Charges dismissed in reopened 2016 Davis County rape case

WEST POINT — New evidence has led to charges being dismissed in a 2016 rape investigation in Davis County.

Davis County sheriff's deputies reopened the nearly 8-year-old cold case in March 2024 to arrest a man who they say targeted a woman in a Walmart parking lot, followed her home and then sexually assaulted her.

In August of 2016, police collected DNA evidence from a woman who said she had been sexually assaulted in her West Point home. They were unable to identify a suspect, and the evidence was submitted to a state crime lab during "a period of statewide backlog in processing," according to charging documents. The assigned officer later left the department and the case went cold.

The woman told police that around midnight, she had driven her husband's car to the parking lot of a Layton Walmart to try and repair her own vehicle, which had broken down there earlier. She and her family were staying in a hotel due to an incident at their home that left it without power. Police say a man approached her, claiming he was a mechanic, and offered to help her in exchange for sex, methamphetamine and cash.

The woman told police she refused, and quickly left in her husband's car, driving to her vacant house to pick up a package for her daughter. At the house, the woman said she went into the backyard and saw that the back door was open. When she stepped inside and called to see if anyone was there, the man from the parking lot appeared, the charges state.

He "forced her through the residence," punched her in the mouth and raped her, according to the charges.

In January 2024, detectives reviewing old cases identified a potential DNA match in the system, which led them to Layton resident Jose A. Mendiola-Ramirez, 50.

Police interviewed the man, who said he met the woman in the parking lot after becoming intoxicated at a nearby bar. Mendiola-Ramirez told police the woman invited him to her home, where they had consensual sex, the charges say.

Mendiola-Ramirez was charged with aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, rape, object rape and two counts of forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies, and three counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

A week before Mendiola-Ramirez was scheduled to stand trial, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled if additional information became available.

"This motion is being made as it is in the interest of justice at this time to not go forward to trial. The state has met with and informed the alleged victim in this case," the motion states.

Defense attorney Rudy Bautista told KSL that evidence was found that contradicted the alleged victim's story. Surveillance video footage supported the idea that the two knew each other and had driven home consensually, he said.

"She was being investigated for arson at the time and we believe she fabricated the rape allegation to divert attention away from her," Bautista said. "Jose had maintained that the encounter was consensual."

Second District Judge Ronald Russell granted the motion on Jan. 15 and all nine charges were dismissed.

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