Yuba County jury returns ‘crazy' verdict

Marcus Charles Hagins was found guilty Tuesday of three felonies his attorney says may mean a five- to seven-year sentence — but not guilty of an attempted rape charge that carries a life sentence — jury verdicts that friends of the 20-year-old victim called "crazy" and "shocking."

Hagins, who knew the woman from East Nicolaus High where the two had gone to school, was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and making criminal threats for his actions in May 2009 at the Plumas Lake home where the victim lived.

The jury deliberated for about four hours.

Jury foreman Chuck Sylvia, 63, of Marysville, said the not-guilty verdict on assault with intent to commit rape during a first-degree burglary — a conviction Hagins' attorney Michael Bowman said would have meant his client would die in prison — came because of the requirements of the law.

"Whether you agree with the law or not," Sylvia said, "you've got to follow the law."

The 20-year-old woman testified during the trial in Yuba County Superior Court that a man wearing a black hood and bandana over his face entered her bedroom, bound her wrists and ankles behind her back with duct tape and put a ball gag in her mouth. The man said, "If you say a word I'll slit your (expletive) throat" and held a sharp metal object to her throat, the woman testified.

"Our problem was the intent. He never said anything sexual," Sylvia said of the rape-related charge. "He never touched her at all."

Marysville resident Grace Anderson, 19, a friend of the victim said she believed Hagins was guilty of all charges. "It's crazy," Anderson said of jury verdicts.

Several friends of the victim began sobbing in court when the jury verdicts were read. Nine women and three men served on the jury.

Juror Sydney Beasley, 51, of Linda, said the law requires proof of intent for a conviction of attempted rape. The duct tape and ball gag show Hagins intended to do something — but not necessarily rape, Beasley said. He could have planned to assault the woman, Beasley said.

"I know it's hard for people to understand," she said of the law and the jury verdict.

The victim's mother called 911 in May 2009 after hearing noises and the intruder fled.

The jury heard testimony during the trial that Hagins had more than 8,000 images of bondage porn on a laptop he used. The defendant also had a bondage film, shown to jurors, which the prosecution described as a how-to-video in the 2009 assault in Plumas Lake.

Sylvia said testimony about the images of bondage porn affected jurors but that many men have pornography on their computers.

"That doesn't make them a rapist," he said.

"What did he intend to do?" Sylvia asked of Hagins. "Nobody can read his mind. Nobody knows."

Hagins, who remains in custody, is scheduled to be sentenced June 28.

CONTACT Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com .