Judge: Race An Issue In Mission Beach Rape Case

POSTED: 1:15 pm PST January 24, 2008

UPDATED: 5:43 pm PST January 24, 2008

SAN DIEG -- Jury selection began Thursday in the case of a violent 2006 home-invasion robbery in Mission Beach.

Images: Women Raped In Mission Beach | Watch Video

Donald Duante Smith, Antonio Washington and Willie Watkins are accused of 26 counts of forcible rape, forced oral copulation, and robbery stemming from the Oct. 15 2006 incident.

The victims were two men and two women. The women were University of San Diego students. They were attacked at about 2:30 a.m. in the 700 block of San Fernando Place near Mission Boulevard, according to police.

Prosecutors allege the women were raped while their male friends were held at gunpoint in another room. According to police, the suspects took off with a television, an X-Box game system and other items. Investigators said two of the men then took one of the female victims outside, but their kidnap attempt was foiled when a police cruiser was spotted a block away.

The incident set off a series of community meetings and calls for more security in the neighborhood.

Fifty perspective jurors were being questioned at the San Diego County Courthouse on Thursday. Judge John Einhorn addressed the juror pool, saying that race is an issue because the defendants are black and the victims are white. The judge has been asking jurors if that would affect their ability to be fair and impartial in the case -- can they concentrate on the evidence, not skin color.

The defendents all face life in prison if convicted.

Last January, the victims testified during a preliminary hearing about the attack. One of the male victims said the intruders threatened to shoot him if he could not find his wallet.

In other testimony, the two young women described how they were held at gunpoint and forced to perform oral sex on the suspects. They also said the suspects then raped them repeatedly.

The trial is expected to last one month.

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