Victims Express Their Dismay at Reduction of Rapist’s Sentence

D.J. Evans and Vicki Harris-Walker had different reactions when they heard that the 4th District Court of Appeal this week had cut--almost by half--a convicted rapist’s 73-year prison sentence.

“I was furious,” said Evans, a tax consultant from Laguna Hills. “How could they do that?”

Harris-Walker, a mental health worker in Huntington Beach, said her first reaction was one of fear.

“Just seeing his name in the newspaper brought up all of those old feelings of terror,” she said, referring to Robert E. Morehead, the man whose sentence was reduced,

Both women were assaulted by Morehead four years ago. Evans was raped, and Harris-Walker was assaulted but managed to avoid a further incident by locking herself in a bathroom.

The appellate court decision reducing Morehead’s sentence distressed them so much that they were determined to tell their stories publicly.

Groups in Protest

At a news conference called Friday by state Sen. Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim), both women told reporters how difficult their lives have been since they were attacked.

Royce was joined at his press conference by representatives of Victims for Victims, the Sexual Assault Network, Citizens for Better Judges, the Citizens Anti-Crime Taskforce, the California Crime Victims Coalition and the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center of Orange County.

Many of them carried signs denouncing the appellate court.

“I still have to sleep with a light on,” Evans said at the press conference. “I just thank God that my daughter, my beautiful daughter, was not home the night this happened.”

Morehead, now 33, was convicted in 1984 on eight counts of rape and 11 other counts involving burglary, false imprisonment and sexual battery in connection with attacks on five women.

The Santa Ana appellate panel in a 2-1 decision dismissed five of the rape counts. That left Morehead with just one rape count for each of three victims.

Although the jury in Morehead’s trial found him guilty of rape each time he paused during an incident and then approached his victim again, the two-man appellate court majority--Thomas F. Crosby Jr. and Edward J. Wallin--decided that each woman had been raped only once. The justices cited a recent, similar ruling by the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento.

But Justice Sheila P. Sonenshine, in a strong dissent, argued that each act during each incident caused the victims to undergo “separate humiliating violations of their bodies.”

Evans said she was offended by any court opinion that she had only been raped once. Morehead had been convicted of raping her three times.

“Each time I would think he was through, and he would turn around again,” she said. “It was such an indignity, I can’t describe it.”

Both women were convinced that it was not a coincidence that the male justices voted to reduce the rape counts and that Sonenshine voted to retain all of them.

“I think those men simply could not fathom what it was like for the victim, and Justice Sonenshine could,” Harris-Walker said.

Wallin could not be reached for comment. Crosby said he was aware of the protest but could not comment because the prosecution may seek a rehearing of the issue.

Despite the furor, the two male justices had a strong defender: Sonenshine.

While strongly disagreeing with her male colleagues, she said that the sex of each of the three justices had nothing to do with their decision.

“I would hope that all disagreements among the justices would be on points of law,” Sonenshine said. “I think the law is clear what constitutes a rape, and I said so in my dissent. But I’m sure they did not disagree with me just because they were men.”

The justices reduced Morehead’s sentence by 30 years by throwing out five of the rapes for which he was convicted. They cut another six years on legal grounds related to other charges.

Royce said he was bothered because “this court is undoing everything we’ve tried to do in the Legislature on rape cases.”

Released From Prison

After Morehead’s conviction, Evans persuaded Royce to sponsor legislation that has reduced from 30 days to 14 days the time in which a person convicted of sex crimes has to register as a sex offender with local authorities.

Morehead raped Evans seven days after he was released from prison on a sex-related conviction. Nearly a month later, he was identified and arrested for the attack when he tried to register as a sex offender.

Both Evans and Harris-Walker have been active in small groups, discussing sexual assault, since Morehead’s conviction. They came forward Friday, they said, to focus public attention on the Morehead ruling and similar cases.

Morehead is still left with a sentence of at least 37 years in prison. But both women fear that the criminal justice system will find some way to free Morehead long before he serves his sentence.

Harris-Walker said: “The very idea of this man being released back into our community terrifies me.”