By Khalida Sarwari and Jesse Dungan
A jury today convicted a man of beating, abducting and sexually assaulting a Palo Alto high school student in 2007, but acquitted him on charges that he tried to kill her.
The verdict for 22-year-old defendant Todd David Burpee was read at about 5 p.m. in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Burpee was found guilty of two counts of assault with the intent of rape or sexual penetration, two counts of assault likely to cause great bodily injury, one count of kidnapping for the purpose of sexual assault, and one count of sexual penetration by force. He was acquitted of attempted
murder.
All charges included an enhancement for causing great bodily injury.
“I think they’ve (the jury) taken a monster off the streets by finding him guilty of these other six counts,” prosecutor James Leonard said. “What he did to this girl was horrendous.”
The jury, consisting of six men and six women, began deliberating Wednesday. The trial began May 11 with the victim’s own tearful testimony about the assault.
Known in court documents as Jane Doe, the victim was a 17-year-old senior at Gunn High School in Palo Alto when she was attacked after riding her bike home from school on Oct. 30, 2007.
Judge Griffin Bonini will set a sentencing date for Burpee at 9 a.m. on July 10. Leonard said Burpee faces a minimum sentence of 25 years to life and a maximum sentence of 42 years to life.