A California appellate court denied an appeal of man trying to get his conviction overturned for putting semen in a co-worker’s water bottle.
Judges from the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana rejected an appeal made by Michael Kevin Lallana, who was sentenced to six months in jail and 3-years formal probation on April 22.
He was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of battery with sentencing enhancements for committing a crime for sexual gratification.
A message left for Lallana’s attorney, E. Thomas Dunn Jr., was not immediately returned.
Prosecutor Anna Chinowth said on Friday she thinks the appeals court made the right decision.
Prosecutors said that in 2010 Lallana at least twice deposited his semen into a water bottle of a female co-worker at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network who he thought was “very attractive.”
Dunn appealed the Feb. 24, 2011 conviction, saying as repugnant as the case was, it was not battery.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
But the judges disagreed, citing a case in which the Missouri Court of Appeals said placing semen in a person’s mug constituted “physical contact.”
The judges also said there was sufficient evidence that the case was committed for Lallana’s sexual gratification, citing police interviews with Lallana saying he admitted he found the victim to be “good looking.”
As part of his sentence, Lallana was ordered to register as a sex offender for life. He was also was ordered to pay $27,411 in restitution to cover the victim’s lost income and therapy costs, prosecutors said. Lallana was also issued a stay-away order barring any contact with the victim, officials said.
