A Solano County Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced a 30-year-old Vacaville man to nearly 26 years in state prison following his July conviction for a series of horrific domestic violence crimes.
Michael Milad Behnamnia heard Judge Jeffrey C. Kauffman hand down the sentence of 25 years, eight months in Department 1 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
Afterward, Behnamnia returned to the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield, where he awaits transfer to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
On July 11, a jury found Behnamnia guilty of attempted torture, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of making criminal threats, forcible oral copulation, forcible rape, four counts of corporal injury to a spouse/girlfriend, domestic battery, and kidnapping. All are felonies except for the domestic battery charge, a misdemeanor.
The jury also found Behnamnia guilty of personally inflicting great bodily injury and personally using a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Over the course of several months, Behnamnia repeatedly physically abused his girlfriend inside their Vacaville home, court records show.
On July 18, 2023, the victim escaped from the home after enduring multiple days of violence at the hands of Behnamnia, according to wording in a Solano County District Attorney’s Office press statement issued late Friday.
After intervention by a good Samaritan, Vacaville police officers responded to the woman’s location and obtained her initial statement.
When Detective Dayna Hardwick, of the police department’s Special Victims Unit, interviewed the victim, she disclosed multiple previous domestic violence crimes that resulted in a broken leg and several broken teeth.
The woman further disclosed that on July 14, 2023, while driving to their home, Behnamnia struck her repeatedly on her head/neck and made threats to harm her and kill her family. Upon arriving at their home, Behnamnia physically carried her into the residence against her will. Once inside the home, Behnamnia took the victim’s phones to prevent her from calling for help.
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From July 16, 2023, until her escape on July 18, 2023, the defendant repeatedly inflicted physical and sexual violence on the victim, according to court records.
Police arrested Behnamnia, a previously convicted felon, on July 18 in the 300 block of West Monte Vista Ave.
Hardwick investigated this case. Deputy District Attorney Carrie Gylling led the prosecution. Cynthia Malloy provided victim advocacy.
“The sentence imposed by the Court recognized the aggravated nature of Defendant Behnamnia’s conduct and provides justice for domestic violence victims in our community,” Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams wrote in the prepared statement.
Abrams, the county’s top law enforcement officer and a fierce advocate for protecting women against domestic and sexual violence, recommended to anyone who has been a victim of domestic or sexual violence — or knows someone who has — and needs the assistance of an advocate to call (707) 784-6827.