OXNARD : Request for DNA Hearing Dropped

An Oxnard man facing the death penalty for allegedly raping a woman before a co-defendant fatally shot her has dropped his request for a hearing to challenge the admissibility of DNA evidence, court officials said Wednesday.

Frederick Lee Jackson, 26, is charged with murder, kidnaping and rape in connection with the 1992 slaying of Genoveva Gonzales, a mother of four.

Prosecutors said that Jackson and a co-defendant kidnaped Gonzales and took her to a desolate area of Oxnard. There, Jackson raped the woman before the second defendant shot her in the head, they said.

Jackson’s lawyers had asked the court to conduct a lengthy hearing to determine whether DNA evidence is admissible in California courts. Some judges have not allowed the evidence because scientists question the accuracy of the process used to statistically analyze the genetic evidence.

Most California judges, however, are allowing the DNA into their courtrooms.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn said he was pleased to learn that Jackson was dropping his request for a DNA hearing, which would have taken three days to complete.

“It’s tiring, exhausting and time-consuming,” the prosecutor said. “We can now use that time for something else.”

Jackson’s lawyers could not be reached for comment.

Christopher Sattiewhite, Jackson’s co-defendant, was convicted of first-degree murder in the case last year and sentenced to die in the gas chamber.

Jackson is serving a prison sentence for an unrelated rape case, prosecutors said.