Mission Beach Sexual Assault Trial Begins

SAN DIEGO -- Three men barged into a Mission Beach condominium occupied by four college students and sexually assaulted the two female victims, a prosecutor said Tuesday, but defense attorneys said their clients were innocent.

Donald Duante Smith, 20, Antonio Washington, 19, and Willie Louis Watkins, 32, allegedly broke into the condo in the 700 block of San Fernando Place in the early morning hours of Oct. 15, 2006.

They ordered an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old man into a bathroom and raped and sexually assaulted two 18-year-old women, Deputy Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza told jurors in his opening statement.

"They stole the sense of security of those four college students," the prosecutor said.

He said a night of relaxation was shattered by extreme violence when Smith, Washington and Watkins -- wearing bandanas and hooded sweatshirts -- walked in through an open front door and assaulted the University of San Diego students.

The intruders -- holding what turned out to be pellet guns -- demanded money and cell phones and made one of the male victims engage in sexual acts with one of the female victims, Espinoza alleged.

One of the women was forced to perform sexual acts on the intruders, he said.

The students did not see the faces of their attackers and aren't even sure how many intruders there were, the prosecutor said.

But days after the attack, Smith turned himself in and admitted his participation in the robbery and sexual assaults, Espinoza said.

Washington also turned himself in and told police how he sexually assaulted the victims, according to the prosecutor.

After Watkins was arrested, he admitted going into the residence and stealing a TV, but did not admit his role in the sexual assaults, Espinoza said. However, Watkins' DNA turned up on one of the female victims, the prosecutor said.

Espinoza said Watkins went to Mission Beach the night of the attack separately from Smith and Washington.

Once there, the defendants met up with others which formed a group of about eight to 10 people, the prosecutor said.

The larger group came across three college students in Mission Beach near the Belmont Park roller coaster and demanded money from them, Espinoza said.

Police detained four people in connection with that robbery after the larger group split up, but the victims were unable to identify their attackers, the prosecutor said.

As the group of four was questioned, a "bold and confident" Watkins came up and told police he was their uncle, Espinoza said.

Those detained told police later they saw Watkins with a flat-screen TV and Smith and Washington with an Xbox, DVDs, a cell phone and bank cards that were taken from the home-invasion robbery on San Fernando Place, the prosecutor said.

The next day, the defendants tried to sell their stolen loot and later went to a home in National City, where Watkins was overheard admitting his role in the sexual assaults, Espinoza told the jury.

Smith's attorney, John Fielding, said in his opening statement that Smith wasn't part of the home-invasion sexual assault.

The attorney said DNA testing in the case was suspect, and that Smith was a "scared 18-year-old" when he spoke to police.

John O'Connell, the attorney for Washington, told the jury that the DNA evidence against his client was inconclusive and said descriptions of the intruders were vague.

Knut Johnson, the attorney for Watkins, said his client wasn't at the crime scene that night.

"Willie Watkins did not rape anyone ... did not assault anyone," his attorney said.

Each defendant faces more than 400 years to life in state prison if convicted of multiple sex counts, including forcible rape in concert, and other charges, including false imprisonment, robbery and kidnapping for robbery.