This story first appeared in the Daily Post print edition on Dec. 18. If you want to keep on top of important local news stories, pick up the Post in the mornings at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.
BY AMELIA BISCARDI
Daily Post Staff Writer
A San Carlos woman whose alleged rapist took a plea deal that resulted in no jail time is suing the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, saying her case was mishandled.
Carrie Banks says she wasn’t told about the plea deal, which she alleges in her federal lawsuit is against Marsy’s Law. Marsy’s Law gives specific rights to victims, such as keeping them up to date as the case goes through the court system, including if there is a plea bargain.
Banks and Fernando Altuna Mendoza, 37, of Menlo Park, met at a bar in San Carlos on July 16, 2021, after she had attended a concert in Redwood City. The two had a conversation and went their separate ways, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Sometime after Banks went home, she went to sleep and then woke up to find Mendoza naked, standing over her, and that he had sexually assaulted her, Wagstaffe said.
Banks’ attorney, Aaron Zisser, argues that Wagstaffe and Chief Deputy DA Shin-Mee Chang failed to intervene in the case after learning that Marsy’s Law had been violated.
“We believe that the allegations of misconduct by my prosecutors are not accurate,” Wagstaffe said. “We’re going to fight it because it’s simply in our mind, not true.”
Wagtaffe says the law requires the victim to ask to be kept in the loop.
Wagstafle says his prosecutor and victim advocate said Banks never made that request.
The DA’s office opted for a plea deal with Mendoza because they weren’t certain a jury would convict Mendoza due to a witness who said Banks made belligerent statements that night, Wagstaffe said after Mendoza’s Nov. 28, 2023, sentencing.
Zisser called Mendoza’s plea deal a “sweetheart deal,” since he didn’t get jail time or have to register as a sex offender. He only pleaded guilty to a trespassing charge.
Zisser said Banks was not told about the plea deal beforehand and did not get any notification when Mendoza was released.
The suit says that Banks and Mendoza met on the day the incident occurred.
Zisser’s suit says Banks fears she will be attacked again and that her rights won’t be protected by the DA’s office and the Probation Department.
The suit also says that the defendants caused intentional emotional distress and had a lack of training.
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