Sex offender acquitted of rape, kidnap charges

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.

A Clark County jury acquitted a registered sex offender of raping a Las Vegas prostitute Monday after 2 1/2 hours of deliberations.

Jury foreman Jeffrey Baker said prosecutors just did not give the jurors enough evidence for them to convict Vincent Mark Santana, 44, of kidnapping and sexually assaulting the young woman in February.

Baker said the jurors also had problems believing everything the alleged victim testified to on the stand.

It wasn't until after the verdict was read that jurors learned that Santana has spent 23 of the last 25 years in California prisons for sex crimes and is a registered sex offender.

"I would be willing to bet money and give odds that it would have had an impact on the jury," Baker said. "It may not have changed the verdict, but it would have been in the back of our minds and deliberations would have taken three times as long."

The young woman testified Friday that she met Santana on the Internet and agreed to have sexual intercourse with him for a $150 fee. She said Santana asked her to play the role of a 14 or 15-year-old girl and act scared.

When Santana locked the car doors and threatened to pull a gun, the woman said she changed her mind.

" 'Are you role-playing or are you serious?' " she testified she asked Santana.

Santana said he was serious and proceeded to sexually assault her, the woman said.

The woman acknowledged that when she first reported the sexual assault she didn't tell police she was a prostitute.

Defense attorney Gabriel Grasso alleged the woman made up the sexual assault claims upon learning Santana didn't have any money to pay her for the sex acts.

The jury acquitted Santana on two sexual assault counts and a first-degree kidnapping charge for which he could have faced a life sentence. He still faces trial, however, on charges he allegedly failed to update his address on the sex offender registry in Nevada. He is also accused of forging prescriptions.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon said he tried to admit evidence of Santana's criminal history at the trial, but was unable to after missing a deadline.

State law requires attorneys to file "prior bad acts" motions within 15 days of trial so defense attorneys can prepare to argue the merits of the motion. In the Santana case, Herndon said he missed the deadline by four days because he had difficulty in obtaining all of the necessary documents from California.

If convicted at his next trial, Santana could be declared a habitual criminal and receive a life sentence. If he is not deemed to be a habitual criminal and is still convicted, Santana faces one to five years in prison on each of the other two charges.