Former inmate gets 23 years in prison for rape attack in Broadmoor

By Joshua Melvin


Posted: 08/27/2011 06:29:56 PM PDT
Updated: 08/27/2011 11:14:54 PM PDT


A former Pelican Bay State Prison inmate who became romantically involved with a psychiatric nurse while locked up there was sentenced Friday to more than 23 years in prison for beating and raping the woman in her Broadmoor home, attorneys said.

After getting out of prison, defendant Francisco Merino moved to the Bay Area to be near the nurse, but when she tried to break up with him on April 28, 2008, he went berserk, said San Mateo County assistant district attorney Karen Guidotti.

He slashed her face and head with a knife, raped her and then held her captive overnight.

While Merino, 36, was in the shower the next day, she sent a text message to her son seeking help, and he called the police.

Officers arrested Merino, and he was charged with a list of felony counts, but his case was repeatedly delayed over questions on his mental competency to stand trial.

Ultimately, he pleaded no contest to rape and assault in July. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Lisa Novak gave him 23 years and four months in prison, which was the sentence he had been offered as part of a plea bargain. Defense attorney Christopher Morales said his client is seriously mentally ill and needs treatment.

However, Morales said his client's capacity for violence made it necessary to protect the public.

"It's a tragic case," he said, adding that Merino is an illegal immigrant and will be deported to Mexico after his sentence is complete.

Novak also sentenced Merino to 16 months in prison, to be served after his other term, for biting the finger of a guard in San Mateo County jail.

http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county/ci_18772993