Juror in Mark Benavides Trial Fainted after Watching Graphic Sex Tape

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Summary: After watching a graphic video of a sexual encounter between a former San Antonio attorney and one of his victims, a juror passed out.

The trial against former San Antonio attorney Mark Benavides began Tuesday with a graphic start. Jurors were shown a video recorded by one of Benavides alleged victims showing a violent sexual encounter. The video caused one juror to faint, according to the Express News.

  

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The 48-year-old former attorney is accused of continuous human trafficking and having sex with clients in prostitution cases in return for legal services. Due to the large amounts of publicity surrounding the case, the trial was moved from Bexar County to Wilson County.

The victim in the video is a 29-year-old woman testifying for the state. She claims he forced her to have anal sex. While the video played, the victim cried with her hands over her face in the courtroom as she can be heard in the video pleading for Benavides to stop. She is heard stating, “Mark, it hurts! You’re hurting me. …Don’t be so rough.” Benavides can also be heard in the video making sexually explicit commands and telling her to “Come back here.”

District Judge Dick Alcala noticed that the jurors were looking distraught so he ordered a break. As the jurors were exiting the courtroom, one juror fainted. She has been excused from the trial and an alternate was put in her place.

Prosecutor Michelle Chacon questioned the victim, who explained that she had sex with Benavides in July 2014 for her bond on the day he became her court-appointed attorney. She claims he would pick her up at her home and take her to the River Inn Motel downtown on Guadalupe and South Frio streets. He would tell her what to do and what sexual positions he wanted her in, using a handheld video recorder to film the acts from start to finish. He would require her to say “bye” at the end to the camera.

The victim identified Benavides as the man and also identified him in photographs by this tattoos, which are Asian writings on each of his forearms and a large image of the scales of justice down his back. 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, “I’m going to f*** my lawyer.”

During cross-examination, defense attorney Monica E. Guerrero suggested that the interactions were friendly even after his arrest. The victim responded, “I started caring for him as a person because I didn’t have anybody at the time. …He said he would help me get my son back.”

Benavides was first arrested in November 2015, charged with compelling prostitution from at least nine female clients. Several additional indictments have been added since. The women state they employed Benavides as their lawyer for their prostitution cases but that he would coerce them into having sex in exchange for their legal problems being lessened, including dismissal of their cases. The sexual encounters would take place in his law office, his car, at motels, or at the courthouse.

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. 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. Each case will be tried separately.

Benavides has applied for probation. He is facing up to 99 years in prison.

Do you think the charges should be lumped into one trial? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

To learn more about the case against Benavides, read these articles:

• Disbarred San Antonio Attorney Mark Benavides’ Trial Delayed
• San Antonio Lawyer Compelled Clients for Sex
• Woman Says She Traded Sex for Legal Services

Photo: ksat.com