HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A judge has lifted house arrest for a man accused of sexually assaulting a 34-year-old woman at Nori Lounge in late August.
On Wednesday morning, Justin Peter Benavente appeared in the Superior Court of Guam for a request to modify his pretrial conditions.
Benavente and co-defendant Scott David Duenas III were charged after a woman accused the pair of sexually assaulting her while she was drunk.
In the hearing held before Magistrate Judge Jonathan Quan, Benavente’s attorney, William Brennan, spoke about the “disparity of conditions” between Benavente and Duenas.
Last week, during the two men’s arraignment hearing, Duenas was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
Before he was charged, Benavente self-surrendered within a day of the Guam Police Department issuing a release to the media that they wanted to question Benavente and Duenas in connection to the incident. After he was charged, Benavente was released on house arrest and was subject to electronic monitoring and a $10,000 cash bail.
Duenas did not turn himself in to the police and made his first appearance last week when his conditions were set by Magistrate Judge Benjamin Sison Jr.
Additionally, Brennan referred to the evidence in the case, which showed Benavente and the woman had communicated via text after the incident.
“The alleged victim, despite now claiming a fear of this individual (Benavente) was in contact with this individual after the alleged incident and the contact, I think, was amicable. It was friendly contact via text message,” Brennan said.
Brennan argued that if the victim was in fear, then there shouldn’t be a disparity between Duenas’ and Benavente’s pretrial conditions especially considering Duenas is charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct while Benavente is charged with one count.
Prosecution
Assistant Attorney General Sean Brown said the woman is “very scared of both individuals.”
“One, because of what happened to her and two, because of their position in the community. They do have a lot of friends. They have a lot of business ties, and that only makes her more afraid because Guam is a very small island,” said Brown, who opposed modifying Benavente’s house arrest condition.
Brown addressed Duenas having less strict conditions and said, “Every judge is different.”
Brown suggested that – rather than lift the house arrest condition altogether considering it started about a month ago – Benavente be allowed to attend to business matters.
“I really think lifting house arrest is a little premature at this point,” Brown said.
Contact
Quan asked Brown to confirm if there was contact between Benavente and the woman after the incident. Brown said there was contact.
Brown raised concerns the exchanged messages possibly involved pressuring the woman about going to police.
Brennan said the conversation between Benavente and the woman did not have anything to do with reaching out to police. The conversation “had to do with talking about the incident or feelings about the incident and if there were any videos or photos, please delete them,” Brennan said.
Quan, who set the conditions for Benavente initially, said he “must give deference” to Sison’s determination about conditions for Duenas based on the information Sison had available at the time.
After learning there was contact between Benavente and the woman after the incident, Quan called for lifting some restrictions for Benavente.
“The court will deny the defense’s (motion). … However, the court will grant the lifting of house arrest and impose (a) curfew … from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.,” said Quan, who added Benavente will be restricted from certain locations.
Quan called them “red zones,” and they include the woman’s residence, work area and other areas she frequents.
While the new restrictions will not be in effect until Dec. 4, Quan allowed Benavente to attend Thanksgiving celebrations with his family Thursday.
Accusations
Benavente and Duenas were accused of sexually assaulting the woman on Aug. 25.
According to court documents, the woman, after having consumed alcoholic drinks with friends, stopped by Nori Lounge and sat next to Benavente. Her next memory was that she woke to her legs being spread apart, according to court documents.
The woman told police that she was naked and Duenas had forced himself on her, while Benavente forced her to perform fellatio, the charging documents stated.
“She stated that she felt disoriented and confused at the time,” the complaint said.
According to the complaint, the woman passed out and later awoke naked with Benavente in the same room.
An employee of the lounge told police that the woman appeared “heavily intoxicated” and had slurred speech.
Justin Benavente, right, and defense attorney Joaquin “Jay” Arriola Jr. leave the Judiciary of Guam Northern Court Satellite in Dededo after Benavente’s arraignment Nov. 15, 2023.
