CANOGA PARK : 1 of 2 Charges in Rape Case Dropped
One of two rape charges pending against a Canoga Park man was dropped Tuesday after prosecutors failed to find one of the victims, who police say disappeared after identifying the man at an earlier court hearing.
Stephen Arnold, 32, still faces nearly 30 years in prison if convicted of a second rape charge, Deputy Dist. Atty. Teri Hutchison said. In that case, expected to go to a jury today, prosecutors say Arnold sexually assaulted a 20-year-old Canoga Park woman July 12 in front of her two roommates. He was caught by police climbing out a bedroom window, they say.
Police testified that three days earlier, Arnold had been arrested for the rape of another woman. But Judge Michael J. Farrell on Tuesday refused to allow prosecutors to read to jurors the victim’s testimony from a preliminary hearing in September.
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