One of the women, now 32, covered her eyes and stifled tears as she recounted her ordeal. This latest indictment marks the fifth open case against him, including two charges of sexual assault of a child, one charge of sexual assault, and two charges of continuous trafficking of persons. It took the panel nearly four hours to find Benavides, 48, guilty on all six. When Norton asked her if her husband committed a crime, Benavides said she was not allowed to hear the testimony, so I am not aware of what has happened, except what I heard on the news.. He still faces a possible charge for aggravated assault with severe bodily injury. But why should I have to do that?. , updated } View Non-AMP Version Copyright 2017 JDJOURNAL, Disbarred San Antonio Attorney Mark Benavides Trial Delayed, San Antonio Lawyer Compelled Clients for Sex, Woman Says She Traded Sex for Legal Services, Disney Star, Caroline Sunshine, Joins White House as a Press Assistant , East Palestine Train Derailment Draws Lawyers: Information Sessions and Client Sign-Ups Increase, Prosecutors Highlight Ex-Lawyer Murdaughs Financial Misdeeds and Inconsistencies in Murder Trial Cross-Examination, Consovoys Boutique Law Firm Returns to Supreme Court in Student Loan Lawsuit. Meredith Chacon, also prosecuting, branded Benavides 'a pimp in a suit' during her closing arguments. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Double murder-suicide:Hailey Reyes and her father (left) were gunned down by her estranged uncle, Elijah Jared Stone, on May 12 in an incident police called a "double murder-suicide." She said Benavides flirted with her and offered to help her incarcerated son. He said he knew police and judges and I didnt know who to try to ask for help, she said. He said he made amends to his family, and what does his wife tell you? Copyright 2018 by KSAT - All rights reserved. The juror was replaced by an alternate. It's an understatement to call it cheating if its a criminal act, Norton replied. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Her testimony came a day after Benavides took the stand. One of thevideos was so graphic that a female juror fainted as the panel left the courtroom last week. A Texas jury sentenced former San Antonio lawyer Mark Benavides to 80 years in prison April 6 for coercing clients to have sex with him in exchange for legal services. It took the panel nearly four hours to find Benavides, 48, guilty on all six counts. Follow KSAT's Twitter Moment below for the latest updates on the trial. } {"duration": "400ms","fill": "both","iterations": "1","direction": "alternate","animations": [{"selector": "#scrollToTopButton","keyframes": [{"opacity": "0","visibility": "hidden" The video caused one juror to faint, according to the Express News. Mark married Olivia Perez on month day 2001, at age 30 at marriage place, Texas. Steege said he saw a dramatic change in Benavides, from arrogant and entitled when they first met, to humble and treatable. A female juror fainted having just watched a sex tape of former San Antonio lawyer Benavides, in the Wilson County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, in Floresville, TX. May 25, 2022 . He wanted to meet up.. Linda Benavides, Marks wife, testified on Friday morning and asked the jury to please be fair.. He also covers the Spurs for on-air and digital platforms. Several women also testified that they would also have sex with Benavides in backrooms at the courthouse. I felt young and dumb and powerless. Six women he had represented in prostitution or drug cases testified he coerced. Benavides' wife, Linda, took the stand on Friday and asked the jury to "please be fair." She said she knew Benavides cheated, but said the couple have two children and she still supported. As he walked out, Benavides, 48, glanced at his parents and mouthed I love you to his wife. Menchaca was allegedly beaten with baseball bats, dismembered and grilled on a barbecue pit in 2014. More: S.A. teen who refused arranged marriage suffered 6 months of beatings, search warrant shows. Prosecutors said Benavides' conviction has tainted some 5,000 cases and convictions he was involved in. Investigators seized 246 mini DVDs that contained hundreds of videos of Benavides and the former clients engaged in various sex acts, in which he could be heard directing the women and telling them what to do and say. She remembers thinking, If I dont go along with this dude, hes going to screw me in other ways. The next day, employees discovered her body missing from a damaged casket. Benavides is being tried in. Julie Mott trail: A jury awarded Sharlotte and Timothy Mott $8 million on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018 after they found Mission Park Funeral Chapels and Cemeteries negligent in the loss of their daughters body. More: Jury deadlocks in murder case involving San Antonio man whose remains were grilled. Defense expert Mark Steege, a sex therapist who testified he has treated hundreds of sex offenders in 35 years, said he evaluated Mark Benavides in April 2017. Linda Benavides said that although he was unfaithful, she didn't leave her husband of nearly 11 years after his arrest because she supports him. Mark Henry Benavides, 48, broke down in tears on Friday as he heard the sentence and mouthed 'I love you' to his wife, who is still staying with him A former San Antonio attorney has been. 2014 - 2023 Marathi.TV - All Rights Reserved. Its worth life, ladies and gentlemen, Chacon said in her closing argument. Public Defender Michael Young is working with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office Conviction Integrity Unit to review hundreds of Benavides cases with an eye toward overturning unfair convictions. She has worked at five daily newspapers in Texas, including The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Denton Record-Chronicle. A witness described the crime scene as a "horror move" in testimony. She has been excused from the trial and an alternate was put in her place. Mark Benavides looks back at his wife and parents Friday as he is escorted out of the courtroom after being sentenced to 80 years for continuous trafficking of persons. FLORESVILLE A Wilson County jury on Friday sentenced a former San Antonio attorney to 80 years in prison on each of the six counts he faced for coercing clients into sex. Under cross examination, Norton asked Steege whether he reviewed police reports and videos Benavides took of sexual encounters with his clients. They are urging other victims to come forward to keep him in prison for good. He paid more attention; we spent a lot more time with the kids, she told the court. The woman said Benavides kept trying to meet with her after that episode, but she was afraid. But I was thinking of freedom for my son, freedom for me. She further testified, Sometimes he would ask me my name, how old I was, and ask, What are you going to do? Her reply was, Im going to f*** my lawyer., During cross-examination, defense attorney Monica E. Guerrero suggested that the interactions were friendly even after his arrest. More: 'A classic sociopath: Abused victims of Stone Oak playboy speak out after years of violence. Mark Benavides (from left) listens as defense attorneysLiza Rodriguez and Monica E. Guerrero confer during the prosecution phanse of his trial in the Wilson County District Court and Justice Center in Floresville on Thursday, April 5, 2018. The trial against former San Antonio attorney Mark Benavides began Tuesday with a graphic start. Your lawyer is supposed to help you, not hurt you.. FLORESVILLE A juror hearing a sex case against a former San Antonio attorney fainted after seeing video of a sexual encounter involving the defendant as his trial opened Tuesday. }] The witness pointed out Benavides in court and also identified him in photographs by his tattoos Asian writings on the back of each forearm and a large image of the scales of justice down the center of his back.
But he's a good person. Cop killer trial: Shaun Puente was found guilty on March 21, 2018 for fatally shooting San Antonio Police Department Officer Robert Deckard during a highway chase in Atascosa County on Dec. 8, 2013 that started after Puente, according to witnesses, committed two armed robberies in San Antonio. Mark Benavides, 48, is charged with continuous trafficking of persons, accused of having sex with clients in prostitution cases in exchange for legal services. Mark Benavides (center) confers with defense attornies Monica E. Guerrero (right) and Liza Rodriguez (left) during his trial in the Wilson County District Court and Justice Center in Floresville on Thursday. Read more of her stories here. Murder-suicide at upscale apartment complex:Tania Rendon-Santiago was killed at her apartment complex in the 1800 block of Broadway Street in an apparent murder-suicide on March 12. So far, two women represented by Benavides have had their convictions overturned and their records expunged. Benavides admitted that he had sex with all of the women named in the indictment and recorded their motel sexual sessions. July 20, 2020As many as 500 women who were represented by a disgraced, now-imprisoned San Antonio attorney could have their convictions overturned as Bexar County prosecutors review their cases with the help of the public defenders office. S.A. animal sacrifice was Santera practice, but was it illegal? Please be fair. Read more of her stories here. The case was later dismissed for a lack of evidence and Elkhaliny was set to be released from county jail without having to pay bail. 'You're hurting me Don't be so rough.'. She said she knew Benavides cheated, but said the couple have two children and she still supported him. He is facing up to 99 years in prison. Benavides was convicted Tuesday of continuous trafficking of persons and faces 25 to 99 years or life in prison. The jury found him guilty of crimes, not cheating.. Just this month, Benavides was indicted again for continuous trafficking of persons in connection with alleged incidents with four of the women from 2012 to 2015. Rodriguez MARVIN PFEIFFER/mpfeiffer@express-news.net, Marvin Pfeiffer, Staff / San Antonio Express-News, More: Jury find woman who killed nephew guilty of murder, Ronald Cortes, for the San Antonio Express News, More: Jury'sguilty verdict sends convicted killer into frenzy in San Antonio courtroom, William Luther, Staff / San Antonio Express-News, psychologist at upscale apartment complex near downtown, Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News, Texas chain with San Antonio bakeries files for bankruptcy, How a viral chicken fried steak briefly closed down Mr. Juicy, Puerto Rican restaurant finds new life in former Rosario's spot, Report: San Antonio Rep. Joaquin Castro diagnosed with cancer, 'Spreading the love': Buc-ee's begins plans for world domination, Massive pirate-themed San Antonio park delays opening date, TX DPS duped into shipping at least 3,000 Texas drivers license, Spoon, Billy Currington, and more set for New Braunfels shows, Jury deadlocks in murder case involving San Antonio man whose remains were grilled, San Antonio woman gunned down by estranged, Details emerge in murder-suicide involving, Suspect in death of Trinity University cheerleader arrested on charges of murder, sexual assault, S.A. teen who refused arranged marriage suffered 6 months of beatings, search warrant shows. What I saw yesterday (in Benavides testimony) was a totally different man. It was important for us to correct a wrong from someone in our bar.. Fundraiser honors San Marcos child who was struck, killed CPS Energy sells circular Villita Assembly Building. Benavides, a former San Antonio lawyer, was convicted Tuesday of trafficking in persons and having sex with clients in exchange for legal services. SAN ANTONIO Former attorney Mark Benavides has been sentenced to 80 years for six counts of continuing trafficking of persons. she testified. They found him guilty of force, fraud and coercion, Norton said. RJ Marquez has been at KSAT since 2010. I felt like he wasnt even trying to help me anymore, but I already had given him $3,000 and I couldnt afford another lawyer, she said. She was encouraged to answer: 'I'm going to [expletive] my lawyer.' At first, Benavides would text or call her when he was lonely or bored, she said.
Mark A Benavides, born Circa 1981 Mark A Benavides was born circa 1981. I saw a humbled man rather than an arrogant man, he said. You can see RJ regularly on KSAT Explains and Good Morning San Antonio. Norton told the jury that this wasnt Benavides trial alone, that it was shared with every single person who took the stand and told their stories. Heres what you need to know. Benavides accusers testified during the first phase of the trial that Benavides would take them to a motel and record videos of those encounters. Bendavid played the role of Barbara Hershey's character's son Dominic Blythe in Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning. On ExpressNews.com: Four pending sex cases against convicted ex-San Antonio attorney dismissed. When Norton asked if he saw a change in Benavides from his testimony, Steege said he did. Benavides still faces two charges of sexual assault of a child, a charge of sexual assault and another charge of continuous trafficking of persons. "I'm asking you to have mercy and give me the minimum," Benavides said while crying. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863. I started caring for him as a person because I didnt have anybody at the time. He also covers the Spurs for on-air and digital platforms. He did. "We know there are women we could never ID. During the trial,San Antonio Police Department Detective Manual Morales testified that police found a filing cabinet at Benavides' home containing 246 of what the detective called "pornographic DVDs" that showed Benavides having sex with women who police said were Benavides' clients. I looked at you three times, sir, and you were asleep, Norton told Steege. Before Benavides was taken away, the judge increased his bail to $150,000 on each of the remaining four cases pending against him. She said she rejected his overtures. Youre hurting me. 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