Jun. 13 COLUMBIA, S.C. Across the United States, state legislatures took up bills that targeted members of the LGBTQ community, including in South Carolina. From bills that would ban transgender girls from participating in women's sports to an effort to remove LGBTQ protections from the hate crimes bill, lawmakers in the Palmetto State filed and considered an unusually high volume of bills .
Charges for Trevino were tied up in court, however, because her family and legal team claim she was a victim of sex-trafficking when the 2019 incident took place.
Her legal team and supporters say Trevino was used to lure in the two victims of the shooting with promises of sex. Trevino was just 16 at the time. Baldenegro and Martinez were 18. Attorneys for the other two involved have maintained the sex trafficking claims are false and that Trevino orchestrated the robbery.
Attorneys for Martinez and Baldenegro won a court order in March to show evidence they said disputed the trafficking claims. Lee Bright, representing Martinez, said the evidence showed Trevino was “intimately involved” in the planning of the robbery.
For more than a year in social media and online posts, Trevino’s parents and supporters have made that assertion. They asked for contributions to help support her. The posts depict a young scholar and athlete forced into sex trafficking and drew national attention from celebrities.
Trevino turned 18 in February and has been declared an adult in court. She was a 16-year-old minor when she and the two young men were accused of a robbery that went bad at a Grand Prairie apartment complex.
Carlos Arajeni-Arriaza Morillo, 24, was killed. Another robbery victim was injured but survived.
Now that she is no longer protected from the release of information as a minor, the other attorneys won a court order that allows them to show evidence which they say disputes the sex trafficking claims.
Good Thursday morning!
The International Criminal Court announced yesterday that it is opening a war crimes investigation into the activities of both Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, beginning with the 2014 Gaza War.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahucalled the decision “undiluted antisemitism and the height of hypocrisy.” The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry said the “long-awaited step serves Palestine’s vigorous effort to achieve justice and accountability.”
Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the U.S. “firmly opposes and is deeply disappointed by this decision,” adding that: “The ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter.”
Deputy Secretary of State-designate Wendy Sherman appeared beforethe Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday for a confirmation hearing. Sherman, a key negotiator in the 2015 Iran deal, told senators that the U.S. would seek a new agreement with Iran that extends and strengthens the original deal