(Sacramento, California) As previously reported, 30-year-old Margaret De Barraicua was caught by police having sex with a 16-year-old boy. It happened in her car behind the Leonard Da Vinci Elementary School in Sacramento and her two-year-old son was in the backseat. Ultimately, she was arrested and charged with four felony counts of rape.
De Barraicua
In an update to the story, De Barraicua's attorney, Phil Cozens, presented a proposed plea agreement in a hearing Wednesday at the Sacramento County Superior Court. Cozens said that his client would plead guilty or no contest in exchange for the charges being reduced to misdemeanors. He also proposed limited jail time or community service. So, in a nutshell, De Barraicua will admit guilt to misdemeanor rape in return for a hand slap.
Although not frequently, rape is recognized as a misdemeanor in some places. Last year, for example, a high-profile case involving a popular athlete revealed that the law in the state of Georgia has provisions for misdemeanor rape. I personally think the concept is ludicrous, but it hasn't seemed to raise too many eyebrows in the judicial and legislative communities. Of course, rape as a misdemeanor may represent a trend in the reclassification of crimes and next we'll have misdemeanor kidnapping or possibly felony double parking. It all seems screwy to me.
Nevertheless, in the De Barraicua case, she remains out on bail and her next hearing is scheduled for sometime in May.
[Update 09/15/05]
De Barraicua pleads guilty.
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