Merced County man found not guilty of rape, but he’s going to jail for another case

A jury earlier this month acquitted a Merced County man of rape, although he’s expected to serve jail time for an unrelated crime.

Angelo William Powers, 33, was found not guilty of two counts of raping a 26-year-old woman. The Sun-Star doesn’t name alleged victims of sexual violence.

Powers was accused of trespassing into the woman’s South Merced home and raping her just after midnight June 12.

The woman told authorities she took prescription medication that night that made her drowsy and kept her front door unlocked because she expected her boyfriend to come over.

The woman said that while under the influence of the medication, she felt a man lay down behind her but thought he was her boyfriend. The man had sex with her, she said, noting she felt violated after she regained consciousness and saw he wasn’t her boyfriend.

Detectives talked to Powers during their investigation and arrested him later after a rape kit analyzed by the Department of Justice matched Powers’ DNA to samples from the woman.

However, Powers told authorities he didn’t remember going to the woman’s house.

During the trial, questions shifted from whether Powers was there, to whether the alleged sexual contact between Powers and the woman was consensual.

Despite the woman’s denial that the encounter was consensual, she said jurors had many questions she couldn’t answer because she was medicated during the incident.

Powers’ attorney, Merced County Public Defender Katie Reed, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

“It’s very disappointing, but I respect the jury’s decision,” said Donna Bakich, the Merced County deputy district attorney prosecuting Powers. Bakich, who has since left the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment on questions about the jury’s acquittal of the rape charges.

Powers’ accuser, meanwhile, told the Sun-Star she was disappointed with the jury’s verdict and stands by the allegations. “He should never have been let out,” she said.

In a separate and unrelated case, Powers pleaded no contest on Dec. 20 to a second-degree burglary charge stemming from an incident also reported in June.

In that case, two girls walking away from their home saw Powers breaking into the residence, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing. Their mother, who was in the home during the robbery, said she heard someone enter the home. But the man, later identified by authorities as Powers, ran out of the home with a jug of juice.

Powers was released from custody last week after he asked Merced County Judge Carol Ash if he could spend the holidays with his family.

Bakich objected to Powers’ holiday release on his separate burglary charge, according to court records.

Powers was ordered to return to court for a sentencing hearing on the burglary charge on Jan. 10. He is expected to receive a three-year sentence, including the last 18 months on community supervision, according to court records.