THE jury trial of a man accused of making a girl smoke marijuana before raping her began yesterday.
Superior Court Associate Judge David Wiseman had started selecting six jurors who will determine whether Joseph Diaz Sablan is guilty or not.
Assistant Attorneys General Aaron Romano and Daniel Cohan are prosecuting the case. Assistant Public Defender Jeffrey Moots is serving as Sablan’s counsel. The jury selection was still ongoing as of press time yesterday afternoon.
The 29-year-old Sablan was charged with rape, oral copulation and sexual abuse of a child.
According to court papers, prior to the rape that occurred on Nov. 20, 2000, the victim who was then 15 years old and her two friends were picked up by Sablan at the parking lot of the movie theater in San Jose.
The defendant allegedly made the victim and her friends smoke marijuana. Sablan then brought the victim and her friends to his house in San Antonio.
Court documents said that at the San Antonio residence, the victim’s friends fell asleep.
Sablan then allegedly raped the victim.
