She added: “We have come so far, yet we still have so far to go. Acts of hate like this are nothing new to our community but we are strong, resilient and we refuse to be pushed back into a dark closet, especially during a time when we are reflecting and celebrating all those that have come before us and made sacrifices and upon whose shoulders we stand in our fight for equality,” Casil stated. Sometimes, it feels like we’ve taken two steps forward and one step back. This is a cowardly act of hate and violence against our LGBTQ community here on Guam. “I can’t communicate just how upsetting this is. Lasia Casil, the founder and president of Guam Pride, organized a rally Monday afternoon in front of the Guam Congress Building supporting the LGBTQ community against hate and bigotry and to replant the Pride Flag. The vice speaker has promised to check all the surveillance cameras around the Congress building and the Legislature’s own cameras to find out who’s behind the burning. Jason Clayworth is an investigative reporter at the Des Moines Register.She added: “I want the LGBTQ community to know that this cannot happen in our island community. Court records reviewed by the Register do not indicate that he has filed any further motions linked to his representation in the case. He did not respond to a request for comment. Martinez is currently being held at the Iowa Medical & Classification Center correctional facility in Coralville. She said she believes Martinez was ultimately satisfied with his legal representation.
Marcucci said the case was assigned to her before the hate crime enhancement and before her supervisors were aware the case involved issues pertaining to sexuality. Had he ordered the sentences to run concurrently, the incarceration would have totaled 15 years, a slight reduction. He did, however, order Martinez to serve the sentences consecutively. Van Marel under state sentencing law had little leeway when determining Martinez's penalty. “I think it’s a very interesting issue in that the First Amendment right to freedom of expression covers things like burning the American flag, but burning the rainbow flag is something that was criminalized,” Marcucci told the Register this month. And because the arson conviction was a felony, the habitual offender enhancement also applied due to Martinez's prior conviction on drug and theft counts in Texas. But the hate crime status bumped the arson charge from an aggravated misdemeanor to a felony, which carries a more severe sentence. Martinez would have received a maximum of around three years in prison for the convictions. Marcucci contrasted the case with others, noting her concern with how dramatically the hate crime and habitual offender enhancements increased Martinez's prison time. She said she believes - if anything - her sexuality was an asset as she argued his case.
Marcucci told the Register that she fought aggressively for Martinez, including seeking dismissal of the hate crime enhancement on free speech grounds. “She doesn’t have my best interests at heart, your honor,” Martinez said, according to the transcript. But Marcucci was ultimately reassigned to the case after Martinez was unable to retain his own attorney, court records show.īefore his conviction, Martinez made several statements to media and in court proceedings condemning or disparaging gay people, including claiming in an August hearing that “a person who cannot discern their difference between gender is mentally retarded.” He said his views were based on his religious beliefs.Īs he argued to be allowed to hire his own attorney, he told the court that Marcucci “was about to blow at some of the things I was telling her.” He said he was willing to stand behind his beliefs even if it resulted in his incarceration. Van Marel allowed Martinez to seek private counsel. And I can just read right through the lines,” Martinez told Iowa District Associate Judge Steven Van Marel, according to the transcript. “It’s not ironic they appointed her to my case, your honor.