Jury Deliberations in San Ramon Pimping Case Start Monday

A jury will start deliberating Monday to decide if two men are guilty of pimping minors out of a San Ramon house, the Contra Costa Times reports.

Here is part of the Contra Costa Times article, the full article can be read here.

Duwan Fields, 33, a San Ramon resident and the suspected mastermind behind the prostitution ring, is charged with two counts of pimping a minor prostitute, and one count of unlawful sex with a 16-year-old.

Claudiens Griffin, a 21-year-old Sacramento man, is charged with pimping a minor prostitute, pandering for prostitution, rape, and lewd acts on a 13-year-old. Both defendants deny the charges.

A prosecutor said the victims were 13, 16, and 17 when they ran away from a Sacramento foster care receiving center and were picked up by strangers at a light rail station and brought to a San Ramon house to be prostitutes.

The girls originally were told they were going to make a lot of money wearing provocative clothing on webcams. Fields and Griffin made up to $2,000 a night from the girls' clients, but the girls saw none of that money, Mahalich said during closing statements Thursday.

Defense attorney Chris Feasel, representing Fields, told jurors that police made many assumptions and failed to get enough evidence to back the charges against his client, who was gainfully employed in the finance industry at the time of his arrest. Both Feasel and Griffin's attorney, Anthony Ashe, said the alleged victims were not truthful with investigators.

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