SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed a bill that closes a
loophole in state law that led to a controversial plea bargain given to a
former Anderson police officer accused of raping a Millville woman he was
taking to Shasta County jail.
Brown signed the legislation — Assembly Bill 2078 — authored by state
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, and state Sen.
Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale.
"I am pleased that with the governor's signature of AB 2078, we
will now have the law apply to all, regardless of the color of their
authority," said Nielsen in statement. "This law was a necessary step
in providing justice in our community and in preventing outrageous situations
such as in the Benson case from taking place in the future."
The legislation is in direct response to the 2010 case in Shasta County,
where former Anderson police officer Bryan Benson, accused of kidnapping and
raping a woman in his custody, was given a one-year plea bargain and was not
required to register as a sex offender
According to state law at that time, someone who is in police custody
can't be considered to have consented to sex with her jailer.
But District Attorney Stephen Carlton and chief deputy district attorney
Josh Lowery have said the loophole arose because the woman was not in jail
custody at the time of the alleged rape.
Instead, the alleged rape occurred outside an unmarked patrol car parked
in a lot near the jail. That circumstance would have allowed Benson's lawyer to
argue the act was consensual, prosecutors have said.
Under the plea bargain, Benson pleaded no contest in September to
assault by a public officer, a felony, and soliciting a lewd act, a
misdemeanor. In exchange he received a maximum one-year jail sentence and three
years' formal probation.
He was not required to register as a sex offender because that was not a
requirement of the misdemeanor to which he pleaded no contest.
Benson, 28, who was fired from the Anderson Police Department in August
2010 and sentenced in December to 364 days in jail, may now be under federal
scrutiny.
Benson was recently transferred to Sacramento County jail at the request
of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Although federal prosecutors decline to discuss the reasons why he was
transferred to Sacramento, Lowery has acknowledged that county prosecutors met
in October with officials from the U.S. attorney's office and provided them
with copies "of everything we had from our criminal prosecution" of
Benson.
Shasta County public defender Jeff Gorder, whose office was not involved
in Benson's criminal defense, has speculated federal prosecutors may have
wanted the former APD officer transferred to Sacramento County because federal
charges could be pending.
Although he did not know what kind of federal charges, if any, might be
brought against Benson, Gorder guessed possible civil rights violations could
be under discussion.
Meanwhile, the Millville woman, who is not being identified by the
Record Searchlight because she is a sexual assault victim, has filed a $10
million federal lawsuit against the city of Anderson and its police department.
Benson is not named as a defendant because he filed for bankruptcy after
he was fired from the police force.
A trial date has not yet been scheduled.