NORWALK — A 23-year-old El Monte man was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison Thursday for the 2009 attempted murder of a Bellflower woman, who was drugged, had her throat slashed and was stabbed and beaten before she was tossed over the edge of Turnbull Canyon and left for dead.

Vincent Mendoza showed no reaction to the sentence, handed down by Norwalk Superior Court Judge Michael Cowell, who noted the “high degree of viciousness and cruelty” displayed in the attack on then-20-year-old Christina Martinez.

Defense Attorney Harriet Hawkins argued the court had discretion not to sentence her client on each individual count of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

An allegation that Mendoza personally used a weapon, a knife, was also found to be true by a jury last December. He is one of three men convicted in the case.

Cowell agreed Thursday that he had the option to sentence Mendoza on one count, but said the severity of the crime demanded more.