Jury deliberations begin in molestation case

The jury in the case against a former police officer and Modesto Junior College instructor began deliberating late Friday afternoon.

Francisco “Frank” Jose Drumond is charged with two counts of committing lewd acts with a child. He is accused of molesting two girls, who were friends of his daughter, in 2009. They were referred to in court as Jane Doe 1 and 2.

Drumond’s defense attorney Frank Carson said it’s unreasonable to believe that the alleged incidents happened the way they were described by the girls. For example, they said Drumond’s daughter was asleep during two incidents, one in his car and the other in his living room in Modesto. Drumond’s daughter testified she was not asleep during the times described by Jane Doe 1 and 2.

Carson said detectives did a poor job by neglecting to diagram the car or living room in which the alleged incidents occurred or investigating the credibility of Jane Doe 1 and 2.

He started his three-hour-long closing arguments by telling a story in which he’d stopped at a gas station and bought a candy bar. When he opened it, he told the jury, he found maggots eating one end of it. He said he contemplated tearing off that portion and eating the rest, but “I threw the whole thing out, and that’s what you should do too … because you’ll never know if that part that you’ve swallowed is contaminated.”

In her rebuttal, Deputy District Attorney Beth O’Hara De Jong addressed Carson’s comment that from the way “the government,” meaning investigators and the prosecution, presented evidence it must think the jurors are stupid. “Him standing up there shedding a tear and telling a story should be insulting to your intelligence,” she said.

De Jong said Drumond’s daughter was rehearsed and given the questions she’d be asked prior to her testimony.

She said neither Jane Doe 1 and 2 nor investigators have anything to gain from Drumond’s prosecution and no reason to lie. “There was absolutely no reason for any conspiracy theory,” she said.

The defendant resigned from his job as a reserve Ripon police officer days after police showed up at his Modesto home to investigate the claims. He previously worked as a police officer in Modesto and Patterson. He was arrested Aug. 28, 2009.

The jury deliberated for about 10 minutes before being excused for the day. It will return Tuesday at 9 a.m.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Jury deliberations begin in molestation case."