Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : Judge Refuses to Acquit Officer in Rape Case

Superior Court Judge Leonard H. McBride on Monday denied a defense request that charges be dismissed against a former county sheriff’s investigator on trial for allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman.

McBride rejected arguments by attorney Byron K. McMillan that the judge acquit Robert Minty, the former investigator facing three counts of rape under the color of authority.

If convicted, Minty could receive three years in state prison.

The woman said she had sex with Minty at a Westminster hotel because she was afraid of going to prison. At the time, the woman was charged with the misdemeanor offense of soliciting magazines sales without a license.

Minty, 38, who resigned shortly after the March incident, had admitted exercising bad judgment in having the sexual encounter but said the woman was a willing participant.

“The victim’s testimony is inherently incredible,” McMillan argued unsuccessfully. “There is not one iota of evidence that she resisted . . . or said why don’t you get your own bed . . . or would you please not do it.”