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SANTA CRUZ — A judge this week asked a prominent Aptos real estate broker to plead to three rape-related felony charges.
Frank Debenardo, a real estate agency CEO and broker, allegedly raped an unconscious woman, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe,” after a party at his family's home in November 2022. In August 2022, he was indicted. The charge of intimidation of a witness was related to a subsequent alleged incident in December 2021, according to a Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office complaint filing.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Steven Siegel determined there was enough evidence to proceed to trial after a six-day preliminary hearing that ended Tuesday. DeBernardo's defense team called Jane Doe to the stand, according to the hearing minutes. This is the direct examination that prosecutor Michael Mahan opposed on Tuesday over the defense's objections and that Siegel ultimately ended. The woman was put on the stand to prove that she was not a reliable witness, but Mr. Siegel disagreed with this assertion.
Profiled on July 22, 2022, Debernardo, 47, is different from the former Soquel High School softball coach, although the Top Agent Magazine: California Edition cover story shares his name. The defendant is listed as the CEO of Portfolio Real Estate, and is said to have 20 years of experience as a real estate investor and broker, and has “generated over $250 million in real estate sales since 1998.” Masu”. Santa Cruz.
A related civil suit filed by Doe against DeBernardo is a follow-on to the criminal suit. The criminal attorney is scheduled to reappear in court on March 13th for arraignment regarding this information.
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