YUCCA VALLEY MAN’S CONVICTION FOR RAPING A 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL UPHELD

A state appeals court Wednesday upheld a former Yucca Valley resident’s conviction for breaking into a Claremont home and raping a 12-year old girl. The three-justice panel rejected the defense’s contention that the trial court’s failure to grant Joseph Chandler Davall’s motion for a change of venue from Pomona deprived him of his right to a fair trial. Davall was convicted in April 2015 of various charges of sexual assault against a child, first-degree burglary with a person present, assault to commit a felony during the commission of a first-degree burglary and making criminal threats. The Yucca Valley man broke into the girl’s home while she was asleep in bed March 21, 2014. Police said the girl had been at home alone and that she tried continuously to fight him off. After the attack, Davall left the home with the girl’s phone and threatened that she would be killed if she said anything about the assault, Davall was linked to the attack through a DNA database. He is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.