Attempted murder, rape convict headed to prison

The woman, who testified in both Davis’ trials, was not in court, nor was anybody else as Judge John Runde ordered him back to prison for the remainder of his prison term on charges of attempted murder and attempted forcible oral copulation.

Defense attorney Paul Demeester asked for leniency because "within the scope of attempted murders this one is not as serious as many that go through these courts.”

Maya countered that the prolonged attack, rather than instantaneous gunshot, and underlying sexual assault motive made the case more "depraved” than most other cases.

Sentence doubled

Davis shook his head subtly and looked down as Runde reviewed the facts of the case but otherwise remained still during the sentencing hearing. Davis’ original sentence was doubled because he has a criminal strike from a prior federal conviction for armed bank robbery in 1997. The short span of time between that crime and the local assault played a role in imposing the harsher term, Runde said.

On Dec. 19. 1997, a Stanford biology student met Davis, then 24, through a former employer at a Burlingame bar and shared a cab home.

At his San Mateo residence, Davis convinced the woman the driver was suspicious and she would be better to call a different taxi. While waiting for the ride, she fell asleep on his couch but awoke to a nude Davis on top of her demanding oral sex while holding a billy club.

The woman tried to escape but Davis jumped on her back and began suffocating her with a plastic bag and extension cord.

She escaped when Davis’ roommate and two young children awoke and intervened.

Maya said Davis was still intent on minimizing the damage of his attempted sexual assault on the woman, yelling, "I can’t let her go. I have to finish this. I can’t let her go. She’ll go to the police.”

Jurors convicted Davis of all counts and he was sentenced to 27 years and 8 months in prison.

Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction because of questionable jury instructions on a prior New York rape case in which Davis was acquitted.

That 1996 incident, and a previously unreported rape claim by his estranged wife, were both presented by the prosecution as evidence but Runde did not consider them in his sentencing.

Playgirl pictorial

Prior to his conviction, Davis graced the pages and cover of Playgirl magazine three times. During the trial, the victim said he showed her photos from his pictorial before she fell asleep.

Davis’ "overblown ego” and inability to accept that someone did not find him attractive fueled his angry attack, Maya said during the sentencing hearing.

Nearly 3,000 days behind bars has been spent "trying to the best of my ability to be a better person, said Davis, adding that he’s not had behavior violations and will not be served "warehoused in an overcrowded, violent” prison.

Maya remained unimpressed, noting that in prison there are few women — his victim group of choice.

After the hearing, Demeester wryly remarked he considers the case a win — his client received a flat 27-year term this time instead of the 27 years and 8 months imposed during the first trial.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.<