A Clark County jury on Thursday found a transient man guilty of second-degree rape for attacking an intoxicated woman walking to her mother’s in February 2017.
Damdee Soungpanya, whose last known address was in Spokane but was listed as transient in court documents, leaned in and whispered to his defense attorney as the all-male jury handed down its decision on the single charge, but he did not react apart from that.
Soungpanya, 40, only faced the second-degree rape charge. The jury deliberated for about 3 hours and 45 minutes, according to Senior Deputy Prosecutor Anna Klein.
On Feb. 18, 2017, the victim was intoxicated and walking to her mother’s residence when a man hit her from behind and sexually assaulted her, she said. The victim did not know the assailant, she said, and told him “no” as he assaulted her. She said she didn’t have a clear recollection of the assault, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
However, the victim participated in a sexual assault exam, which resulted in DNA being matched to Soungpanya, the affidavit states.
Court records show Soungpanya has criminal convictions in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Utah.
When Soungpanya was arrested in Clark Country, he had pending criminal cases in Idaho and Spokane. Both cases were filed earlier in 2017.
Klein filed a motion Oct. 28 asking the court to deny Soungpanya bail, or alternatively, raise bail from $150,000 to $500,000 based on information the state did not know during his first appearance hearing.
According to the motion, Soungpanya raped a “perfect stranger” who had just gotten off of a C-Tran bus in Vancouver. Similarly, he allegedly raped a developmentally delayed woman he’d acquainted himself with at a bus plaza in Spokane, court records say.
“The defendant poses a danger to the community. He has a violent criminal history,” she wrote.
Soungpanya faces a presumptive prison term of 146 to 194 months, Klein said. Sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 17.
