A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld a Harbor City man’s conviction for human trafficking and assaulting a 19-year-old woman who moved from Northern California to work as a prostitute for him.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that a judge erred in denying Okang Palmer’s request to discharge his attorney midway during his Long Beach Superior Court trial.
Palmer — who is serving a 25-year state prison term — was convicted in October 2017 of one count each of human trafficking, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and pandering.
The woman was directed by Palmer to get a tattoo of his name on her hip, according to the appellate court panel’s 25-page ruling.
The woman gave all the money she made to Palmer, with whom she lived, the justices noted.
In February 2015, Palmer beat the woman with his fists and a belt until she lost consciousness, struck her in the forehead multiple times with a metal belt buckle and burned her with a vapor pen after she tried to escape, according to the ruling.
Palmer, now 40, drove the woman to a hospital in Stockton after the assault. She escaped from a home where she stayed with him after being released from the hospital and subsequently contacted police, resulting in Palmer’s arrest in May 2015.