Robert Lugo gained infamy at UC Davis over allegations of date rape. After two mistrials due to hung juries, one in 1997 and one in 1998, Lugo pled no contest to four counts of felony sexual battery in exchange for having the time he had already served—276 days imprisoned prior to and during trial—applied toward his ultimate sentence. That time was deemed sufficient and he was released without any further jail time. He successfully had the conviction expunged in 2005, clearing his record.
Media coverage of the trial suggested that the only reason for a mistrial was "confusion over consent". The Enterprise, for example, interviewed police investigators and one jury member who wanted to find Lugo guilty. They did not present the other viewpoint, which clearly was held quite strongly among some of the jurors to lead to two hung juries. According to the jury foreman in the second trial, "the panel's voting varied greatly on each charge. In some instances, he said, the vote was 10-2 to convict and in others, it was almost evenly divided" (The Sacramento Bee, October 1998)
Some examples of the media coverage, which some say was skewed:
- Sac Bee: Second mistrial in sex assults, Jury deadlocked on ex-UCD student - October 20, 1998
- Davis Enterprise: Lugo jury will ponder: Does no mean no? - Aug 5, 1997
- Davis Enterprise: Confusion over consent led to jury deadlock - Aug 17, 1997
Further information about Robert Lugo's plea agreement in 1999 and subsequent motions filed in 2003 and 2007 can be found here.
