People v. Waqa
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Waqa was convicted of forcible rape after he sexually assaulted a woman in a public restroom. Because Waqa moved the victim from the restroom’s small stall to its large stall before raping her, the jury also found true an aggravated kidnapping circumstance under the One
Strike law, Penal Code section 667.61, requiring a sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the rape. Waqa argued there was insufficient evidence of the aggravated kidnapping asportation element, which requires that “the movement of the victim substantially increased the risk of harm to the victim over and above that level of risk necessarily inherent in the underlying offense.”
The court of appeal modified the sentence to a 15-year-to-life term. The One Strike law requires a term of 15 years to life for qualifying sexual offenses if the defendant commits a simple kidnapping of the victim. By finding the aggravated kidnapping circumstance true, the jury necessarily determined that Waqa committed a simple kidnapping, a finding that was supported by substantial evidence. Where there is insufficient evidence of a circumstance supporting a 25-year-to-life term under the One Strike law but sufficient evidence of a lesser included circumstance supporting a 15-year-to-life term, an appellate court may reduce the sentence to the lesser term.
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