SANTA ANA, California – After about two-and-a-half hours of deliberation, a jury found Michael Kevin Lallana guilty of 2 counts battery and 2 counts committing a crime for sexual gratification.
Lallana sat emotionless, as the alleged victim, "Tiffany," sat in a corner of the courtroom, out of view. A bailiff handed her a box of tissue.
Lallana briskly walked out of the building as his attorney Ed Madrid told media that they planned on appealing the battery verdict.
Tiffany declined to comment, but did admit the verdict was a victory. She would not confirm if she was still working with her civil attorney, Gloria Allred.
Defense lawyers for Lallana said the defendant’s race--and not sex--may have been a possible motive for his bizarre actions.
A psychologist serving as an expert witness for the defense said that as a Filipino man, Lallana claimed that he was often disturbed by the thought that Asian women would choose Caucasian men over Filipinos. Lallana also claimed that his own mother preferred--she herself married--a Caucasian.
“If he’s doing this as retaliation for some great wrong done to him, for the reason of his race, why is she the only victim?” asked Zimmon during his rebuttal this morning, argued Brock Zimmon of the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Lallana has confessed to masturbating in his office, including twice into his co-worker Tiffany’s water bottle.
He claims he did not intend for Tiffany to drink his semen. The two had no personal or working relationship.
Prosecutors closed their argument Thursday afternoon by saying his recorded confession, and the alleged sequence of events, show there was sexual motivation when he ejaculated into Tiffany’s water bottle.
“He knows she drinks from that bottle there was zero reason to put it back on her desk. It could’ve been thrown out. It could’ve been dumped. It could’ve been left somewhere else in the office. It could’ve been put back in the exact same place as she left it so nothing supposedly looked out of place. In reality, he was setting up a trap for her,” explained Zimmon.
In his final argument this morning, Lallana’s defense lawyer raised doubts as to whether the alleged victim even really drank the tainted water.
“Was her conduct consistent with someone that’s drank a foreign substance especially if they believe it’s semen? She then does take a civil attorney, then files a claim against her employer, not Mr. Lallana,” said Madrid.
Lallana’s sentencing is scheduled for April 22. Under these charges, he could spend up to one year in prison, and may have to register as a sex offender. At this time, Lallana remains out on bail.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/02/25/11/pinoy-ejaculator-found-guilty-sexual-crime
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