{"id":10150,"date":"2018-12-19T18:51:54","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T18:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=10150"},"modified":"2018-12-19T18:51:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T18:51:54","slug":"sentencing-hearing-reveals-victim-requested-charge-reduction-from-felony-rape-to-misdemeanor-sexual-battery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/19\/sentencing-hearing-reveals-victim-requested-charge-reduction-from-felony-rape-to-misdemeanor-sexual-battery\/","title":{"rendered":"Sentencing Hearing Reveals Victim Requested Charge Reduction From Felony Rape To Misdemeanor Sexual Battery"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brennan Rego<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note:<\/b> This is a follow-up to a story that appeared in the Dec. 12 issue of The Weekly Sun, titled \u201cHailey Man Sentenced In Sexual Battery Case.\u201d In that story, The Weekly Sun was unable to answer why the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney\u2019s Office agreed to a plea deal with Marco Antonio Martinez-Reyes in which his charge was reduced from felony rape to misdemeanor sexual battery. This story answers that question. <\/i><\/p>\n

A 19-yearold Hailey man charged with misdemeanor sexual battery for an incident involving a 16-year-old girl at the Carey hot springs in January, 2018, was sentenced on Monday, Dec. 3, in Blaine County Magistrate Court. Marco Antonio Martinez-Reyes was originally arrested by the Blaine County Sheriff\u2019s Office on Jan. 14, 2018, under one count of felony rape; however, in August, he struck a plea agreement with the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney\u2019s Office to reduce the charge.<\/p>\n

A recording of the sentencing hearing, which was combined with the change of plea hearing, indicates why the Prosecuting Attorney\u2019s Office was willing to make the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had spoken with the victim,\u201d Blaine County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback said at the hearing. \u201cShe chose this way to resolve the case. She\u2019s on board and thought this was better than the alternative, which is letting it go to trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victim had gone to the hot springs on the night of January 13 with some female friends, Martinez-Reyes and the victim\u2019s uncle, according to police reports included in court documents. Both Fredback and defense attorney Douglas Nelson said at the hearing that the group was drinking heavily and that both the victim and Martinez-Reyes had also used marijuana. Nelson said at the hearing that, according to one of the victim\u2019s female friends, at some point, Martinez-Reyes and the victim became separated from the rest of the group by about 20 feet. At some point after that, the victim came running back to the group \u201cin distress,\u201d according to Fredback.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe went to her uncle saying she\u2019d been hurt,\u201d Fredback said at the hearing.<\/p>\n

The following morning, they reported the incident to the sheriff\u2019s office. Martinez-Reyes was arrested that same day on a felony rape charge.<\/p>\n

At the hearing, Fredback said he agreed to the plea agreement in August for a few reasons. First, he saw difficulties because of the victim\u2019s and Martinez-Reyes\u2019 proximity to the rest of the group during the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should have, or could have, seen what was going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said he was also \u201ctroubled\u201d by the type of sexual contact that was alleged and the fact that there was \u201ca lot\u201d of it. Some of it appeared to him to require participation from both parties, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some witnesses who said that Mr. Martinez and the victim were sort of flirting leading up to this point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nelson said at the hearing that the female friend approached Martinez-Reyes and the victim at some point while they were away from the group and saw the victim \u201ckissing on\u201d Martinez-Reyes, that she was \u201call over him\u201d and that \u201cshe told him if he was good\u201d she would perform oral sex on him. Nelson said the friend then left the two alone because things were getting \u201chot and heavy\u201d between Martinez-Reyes and the victim.<\/p>\n

However, Fredback said at the hearing that regardless of whether things began consensually, they did not end that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that whatever happened back there in the dark away from everybody else was traumatic and serious enough where, when it ended, she came flying out of the hot springs, crying, screaming, and I think everyone there knew that something had seriously happened to her,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, there\u2019s no doubt that there was absolutely a sexual battery.\u201c<\/p>\n

Fredback also said that alcohol was a \u201cserious component\u201d in the crime, but that just because someone is drunk does not automatically lead that person to batter a young female.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time anybody forces themselves on a young female in a sexual nature is about as serious a battery as there is,\u201d he said. \u201cIt needs to be sent home to him and to others that that kind of behavior is just not going to be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the amount of time the case has taken to resolve has also made things frustrating, \u201cparticularly on the victim\u2019s part.\u201d<\/p>\n

The maximum penalty for sexual battery is one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000. Fredback requested at the hearing that Martinez-Reyes be sentenced to 90 days in jail, two years probation, a no contact order between the defendant and the victim, and that the court ensure the defendant stays sober.<\/p>\n

Nelson argued that jail time has diminishing returns after about two weeks and maintained that, had the case gone to trial, Martinez-Reyes would have been deemed innocent by a jury.<\/p>\n

Magistrate Judge Jennifer Haemmerle sentenced Martinez-Reyes to 360 days in jail, with 319 suspended and six days credit for time served\u2014totaling 41 days, with 35 more to serve. Martinez-Reyes is eligible for work release after serving 14 more days. The court also ordered him not to have unsupervised contact with females under the age of 18, except relatives, and ordered him to have no contact with the victim.<\/p>\n

The court fined Martinez-Reyes $2,000, with $1,500 suspended, and ordered him to pay court costs of $457.50. He must also complete 24 months of supervised probation, including classes for substance abuse and mental health, abstain from alcohol and controlled substances not prescribed by a physician and not be in physical control of a vehicle after having consumed any alcohol or controlled substances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI apologize,\u201d Martinez-Reyes said at the close of the hearing. \u201cEspecially for my drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brennan Rego Editor\u2019s Note: This is a follow-up to a story that appeared in the Dec. 12 issue of The Weekly Sun, titled \u201cHailey Man Sentenced In Sexual Battery Case.\u201d In that story, The Weekly Sun was unable to answer why the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney\u2019s Office agreed to a plea deal with Marco […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,18,49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-crime","7":"category-news","8":"category-top-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}