Chico man facing 21 years after rape conviction
OROVILLE » District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced on Friday that a Butte County jury found a Chico man guilty of raping a woman in a Chico alleyway in March 2019.
The case is one of the first jury trials since the COVID-19 pandemic began — and was delayed by North Complex West Zone fires.
According to Ramsey, Ishmael Smith, 35, previously homeless in Chico, met the victim, a then 25-year-old woman, as she was walking home from downtown Chico in the early morning hours of March 9, 2019.
Ramsey said the victim, who didn’t know Smith, testified at the trial that Smith approached her and began talking to her as she walked. As they passed an alley off Salem Street, however, Smith violently shoved her into the alley and then forced her to the ground, where she was raped. Smith then let her go.
Ramsey said the victim told the court that after the rape, she walked home crying while Smith followed her. The woman locked herself inside her car, fearing that if she went inside her home; he would know where she lived.
The woman’s sister took her to Enloe Medical Center after she got a call from the victim around 4:00 a.m. that morning.
Smith was identified as the assailant on April 22, 2019, after samples taken from biological samples from the victim’s body were found to be his. On April 22, 2019, the database identified Ishmael Smith as the suspect.
Chico police got a search warrant for Smith who was arrested in Los Angeles by LAPD on April 25.
After the jury found Smith guilty of forcible rape, they further found Smith had previously been convicted of a gang-related second-degree robbery in 2006. This prior conviction is a “strike” and adds 13 years to his potential sentence.
Superior Court Judge Kristen Lucena, after thanking and dismissing the jury, set Smith’s sentencing for Oct. 15, 2020. Smith is facing 21 years in prison.
He is in custody without bail.