Two transgender women convicted of Franklin robbery

SOMERVILLE - Two transgender women have been convicted of robbery.

Harry Wilkins, 22, and Carlos Martinez, 20, were charged with second-degree robbery for allegedly stealing money from a cab driver near the Clarion Hotel in Franklin Township on Nov. 5, 2016.

Louis Mangione, who represents Martinez, said that charges of robbery "was really a dispute over a fare that turned into a confrontation and comments were made about their genders."

After two days of deliberations, the jury rendered a guilty verdict on second-degree robbery, which was the only count in the indictment.

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Mangione said that "there are appealable issues and an appeal will be filed," adding that the jury deliberations were close to ending in a hung jury.

The defendants' attorneys argued that their clients, who are also minorities, were confronted with "prejudice" and "intolerance" from the cab driver.

But the prosecution said it was much simpler — it was a robbery.

Anthony Parenti, who handled the case for the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, said that Wilkins and Martinez wanted the taxi driver to drive them home to the Bronx, but they allegedly sprayed the driver with pepper spray, threatened him with scissors, and took his money.

"The state's case is that the victim reported that he went to Clarion Hotel on Nov. 5, 2016 and was robbed," Parenti said.

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Parenti was joined at the opening of the trial by his paralegal in the prosecutor's office, Maria Ducca. Superior Court Judge Anthony Picheca Jr. presided over the trial.

Wilkins and Martinez, who go by Nalani and Royal, respectively, are transgender and Wilkins is currently undergoing gender transitioning treatment, according to her attorney, public defender Anthony Cowell.

Mangione said that Wilkins and Martinez are individuals that identify as women but were born in the bodies of men.

"These are not easy lives for these people in our society," Mangione said.

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Cowell, during the trial, said that what began as a simple task of hailing a cab for a ride home ended up with the women being "singled out" and "shamed" for who they are.

"While we are able to believe whatever we want, we have no reason to treat people disrespectfully based on those beliefs," he said.

Cowell argued that before the dispute over the cab fare took place, the driver took Wilkins' bag, which contained her phone, and locked it in the trunk of the cab.

The jury, which was composed of 13 women and three men, agreed with the prosecutors. There were five minorities among the 16 jurors.

Both women are being held in Somerset County Jail awaiting sentencing.

Staff Writer Nick Muscavage: 908-243-6615; ngmuscavage@gannettnj.com