Las Vegas jury convicts man of rape after he flees

Bill Gang

Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 | 11:18 a.m.

It took a District Court jury only 30 minutes to convict a Las Vegas jewelry repairman of raping his wife's cousin while she was visiting from Mexico.

But Cuban emigree Enrique Mesa, 28, wasn't around to hear the verdict.

In fact, he hadn't been around since the first day of his trial in District Judge Jeff Sobel's courtroom, when he discovered that his victim had made the trip back to Las Vegas and was daring to testify against him.

A no-bail warrant has been issued for his arrest and Metro Police continue to search for him.

Despite his absence, the September trial continued. The jury indicated to the prosecutor that his presence would not have made a difference in the outcome.

The jury had been given no reason for his absence.

Maxson said the jurors told her that while they concluded something was amiss, they simply went about their task rather than dwell on the disappearance.

If he is apprehended, Mesa is guaranteed a life prison sentence for the three counts of sexual assault. The least he would have to serve is five years behind bars before becoming eligible for parole.

"We've done justice on our part, but it won't be complete justice until he's in custody," said Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Maxson.

The prosecutor said the jury believed the emotional 24-year-old victim when she told how she had fended off Mesa's advances during a August 1995 trip to see her cousin and, perhaps, start a new life in Las Vegas.

The victim testified that Mesa had tried to seduce her in his home and when he took her sightseeing to some casinos. He had offered to set her up in an apartment and get her a job and a car if she would be his girlfriend.

She said she refused and, finally, when Mesa's wife was away on Aug. 29, 1995, he went to the victim's room and told her that there was nothing she could do to stop him.

She told the jury that she was choked into near-unconsciousness before being sexually assaulted.

Maxson said the following day he drove her back to her home in the Mexican border town of Sinaloa.

On the trip, according to the victim's testimony, she angrily told Mesa that he had ruined her life and she would never be the same again.

But she admitted that she never intended to report the crime to authorities until a friend convinced her to cross the border into California and notify authorities.

A nurse who examined the woman testified that she had bruises on her throat and grip marks on her upper arms from being held down.

Defense attorney Waldo DeCastroverde argued that Mesa and the woman had engaged in consensual rough sex.

The key defense witness ironically was Mesa's wife, Olga, who testified that the victim had flirted with her husband and some of the victim's injuries were the result of a fight between the women over Mesa.

Olga Mesa testified that the next day she made her husband drive the woman back to Mexico.

Maxson noted that Olga Mesa had paid for an airplane ticket for her cousin to come to Las Vegas and questioned why the wife would let her husband drive several hours with a woman she didn't trust rather than just buy a return airplane ticket.

The jury couldn't resolve the contradiction either and convicted Mesa while Olga Mesa wept in the rear of the courtroom.

She informed the court after the defendant disappeared that he had complained of an inability to sleep and of high blood pressure and had left early on the second day of trial to visit his doctor before driving to the courthouse.

Until then, Enrique Mesa had made every court appearance since his release on bail.

He had been jailed after his arrest in late 1995, but following a preliminary hearing on Dec. 14, 1995, Justice of the Peace James Bixler reduced bail to $12,000. Two weeks later, Mesa was back on the streets, where he remains today.