A state appeals court has upheld a life-without-parole sentence for a man convicted of kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl after shadowing her from a Long Beach train platform onto a Metro line and then a bus. The ruling, issued Monday, keeps in place a punishment prosecutors argued fit the brutality of the September 2021 attack near Vernon Avenue and San Pedro Street.
Appeals Court Rejects Verdict-Form Challenge
A three-justice panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal turned aside Terry Edward Scott Jr.'s claim that an error on the verdict form required tossing the sentence. The justices concluded the form "unequivocally shows that the jury found true this One Strike allegation," according to the opinion, as reported by MyNewsLA.com. With that, Scott's life-without-parole term remains intact.
Conviction And Sentence
Scott, 49 at the time of the appeals decision, was convicted on April 30, 2024, of one count each of rape and kidnapping to commit rape and was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Long Beach Post. Prosecutors noted in sentencing papers that he was on probation in a drug case when the attack occurred and that he had prior convictions for criminal threats and for preventing or dissuading a witness.
How The Attack Unfolded
According to contemporaneous reporting and court filings, Scott first approached the teenager as she sat on a bench at a Long Beach train platform. He then boarded the same Metro A Line train she did, followed her onto the same bus, and ultimately trailed her off at San Pedro Street and Vernon Avenue. Prosecutors allege he grabbed her from behind, put her in a chokehold, forced her to the ground, threatened to kill her and walked her about two blocks to the rear of an apartment complex, where he raped her, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Arrest And Custody
LAPD investigators arrested Scott a little more than a week after the September 2021 assault. Officers found him in the 500 block of South San Pedro Street and booked him on suspicion of rape and kidnapping, according to ABC7. Jail records and subsequent reporting indicate he has remained behind bars as the case moved through trial and into the appeals process, per the Long Beach Post.
What Comes Next
Both defense attorneys and prosecutors have the option of asking the California Supreme Court to review a Court of Appeal decision by filing a petition for review, although the high court accepts only a small fraction of such requests and the deadline to file is short, according to California Courts. If the Supreme Court denies review, the appellate ruling becomes final.
Why One Strike Matters
The panel's focus on a true finding under California's One Strike law is crucial. The statute, Penal Code section 667.61, allows prosecutors to seek far tougher punishment, including life without parole, for certain forcible sex offenses when specific aggravating factors are proven. Under that law, qualifying crimes can carry indeterminate terms that range from 15 years to life up to life without the possibility of parole, depending on the circumstances the jury finds, according to the California Legislative Information.
With the Court of Appeal's ruling now in place, Scott's life-without-parole sentence stands while his legal team considers whether to seek review by the California Supreme Court. Records show he has been in custody since his 2021 arrest, and, as reported by MyNewsLA.com, the appellate panel rejected the verdict-form challenge that formed the core of his appeal.
