I saw this article in the San Francisco Chronicle today and still can't believe they had to have a second trial. The defense contends it was manslaughter in the heat of passion! What baloney! It was murder then and murder now and they should be punished!
Tammy
Prosecutor says transgender teen's killers felt deceived - Henry K. Lee and Suzanne Herel, Chronicle Staff WritersWednesday, June 1, 2005
Three men standing trial on murder charges in Alameda County killed a transgender 17-year-old because they felt deceived after realizing the teenager -- with whom there had been some sexual contact -- was biologically male, prosecutor Chris Lameiro said in opening statements today.
Michael Magidson, 24, of Fremont and Jose Merel and Jason Cazares, both 25 and from Newark, are charged with murder and a hate-crime enhancement in the Oct. 3, 2002, slaying of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo. Araujo was born a male and named Edward, but lived as a young woman under the names of Gwen and Lida, as she was known to the defendants.
A fourth defendant, Jaron Nabors, 22, pleaded guilty in 2003 to voluntary manslaughter and agreed to testify against his friends in exchange for an 11-year prison sentence.
It is the second trial for the three other men. Superior Court Judge Harry Sheppard declared a mistrial last year after jurors agreed that Araujo's killing was murder but deadlocked over whether it was premeditated.
Magidson and Merel have been in custody since then. Cazares is free on bail. This time around, Sheppard issued a gag order barring all attorneys, defendants and witnesses from talking to the media.
Araujo was beaten and strangled before being buried in a shallow grave in the Sierra foothills east of Placerville in El Dorado County, authorities say. Weeks later, Nabors led police to Araujo's body.
The four men reportedly had expressed doubts about Araujo's gender after two of them had oral and anal sex with the teen in the weeks before the killing.
Araujo family attorney Gloria Allred spoke to reporters outside the Hayward courtroom today.
"Gwen had a right to be who she was," Allred said. "She should not have had to pay the ultimate price, which was death, because she was honest as to who she perceived herself to be. She had a right to live, and she was denied that right."
David Guerrero, Araujo's uncle, hinted that the trial wouldn't be a repeat of the first.
"There might be new evidence that will be presented, and I'm hopeful that this will sway this new set of jurors," he said. "It's all in God's hands."
The jury is made up of eight men and four women.
Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, was in the courtroom but did not speak to reporters.
In addressing the jurors, Lameiro displayed a picture of Araujo dressed as a woman and told them that the victim would be referred to alternately as "he" and "she," depending upon the context of the testimony.
"Eddie Araujo was punished by these gentlemen because of what they perceived as deception," Lameiro said.
The three defendants, dressed in casual clothes, sat impassively during the two hours and 15 minutes that Lameiro spoke.
The prosecutor stressed that Araujo had not been trying to fool anyone by living as a female.
"This was not a casual, transitory belief. This was a deep, truly heartfelt conviction," Lameiro said. "She didn't know that those she thought were her friends, those she had enjoyed being with socially and, in some case, sexually, were not who they seemed. They're pathetic, insecure, weak men who would end up snuffing her life when they confirmed their suspicions."