Claim of Rape Questioned as Prosecution of Soto Rests

Ventura County prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the murder trial of Gladis Soto by raising doubts about whether the 38-year-old housewife was battered and raped 30 minutes before she turned a gun on her husband.

Soto told police that Pedro Alba came home in the early morning hours of Feb. 20, grabbed her, pinned her down in bed and raped her.

But an emergency room nurse who examined Soto after the alleged attack testified Wednesday that Soto did not sustain the types of injuries typically seen in sexual assault cases.

“I found she had some physical trauma,” said nurse Mary “Jean” Matthews. “There were no findings as far as the sexual assault goes.”

Matthews, whose testimony concluded the prosecution’s case, examined Soto on the afternoon of Feb. 23 after the Ventura woman had been arrested on suspicion of killing Alba.

Soto told Matthews before the exam that Alba forced himself on her, squeezing her arm and pinning

her down with his legs, the nurse testified. Matthews said Soto reported Alba bit and slapped her.

Pointing to pictures taken at the time of the exam, Matthews said she noticed a faint, 5-day-old bruise on Soto’s neck and a yellowish bruise on her upper arm.

The nurse told jurors she could find no evidence of bite marks, and no evidence of genital bruising or trauma.

Matthews said in her experience, which includes performing sexual assault exams on about 250 victims in the past seven years, women who have been raped typically sustain more severe injuries.

But on cross-examination, Matthews acknowledged that such medical evidence is not always present in sexual assault cases.

She said a woman could be raped and not suffer a single bruise. And Matthews told the jury that her final conclusion was that results of the exam did not rule out the possibility that Soto was raped.

Defense attorneys objected to Matthews’ comparing Soto’s injuries to those sustained by other sexual assault victims, saying the nurse should not be treated as an expert witness.

“The problem is ‘typically’ does not mean on every occasion,” attorney Jorge Alvarado argued to the judge outside the jury’s presence. “It’s a confusion of the issues for the jury here. It’s misleading.”

Superior Court Judge Herbert Curtis disagreed, and allowed Matthews’ statements to be admitted.

The nurse’s testimony is significant for the prosecution, which has raised questions about whether Soto was actually raped the night of the killing or fabricated a story to help explain her actions.

Earlier this week, a forensic expert testified that sperm taken during the sexual assault exam appeared to be several days old. The evidence was inconclusive as to when precisely sex had occurred.

The defense is expected to open its case today. Soto, who is charged with murder, deadly assault and other allegations, faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted.