Comments on: Light a Candle for Angie

By: » GUILTY! The Pursuit of Harpyness

» GUILTY! The Pursuit of Harpyness — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:26:07 +0000

[...] Andrade, who faced trial this week for the murder of trans woman Angie Zapata, has been found GUILTY on all four charges!!! Guilty of first degree murder. Guilty of bias [...]

By: ShinyObjects

ShinyObjects — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:24:35 +0000

I’ll be watching this like a hawk – it will set a lot of precedents and hugely influence Colorado’s reputation. I’m really curious to see how jury selection goes; the case has made so many headlines, finding a group of people unaware of the details will be tough. Greeley, despite being a college town, is not (to my knowledge) as progressive as other parts of the state, which worries me.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:18:57 +0000

JD: oh totally. I think he/she is probably thinking that. It still makes me go grrrr.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:17:07 +0000

here’s part of a jury instruction on the meaning of premeditation:

The law does not say how much time is needed. It
is for you do decide if enough time passes under
the circumstances of this case. The killing cannot
be the result of a sudden impulse without thought
or reflection.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:16:22 +0000

JD: Gotcha. *fingergun* *wink* Thanks–I actually didn’t know that the term had started out as a conservative meme. Weird.

By: jdregent

jdregent — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:13:27 +0000

bluebears and Sarah — i’m sure the prosecutor is anticipating the trans panic defense and pre-empting the jury finding that there was no premeditation and it was an act of somehow understandable rage.

By: jdregent

jdregent — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:11:46 +0000

you’re right PhD it has come to mean that. I was just explaining how the term “twinkie defense” came about, and how it was totally a conservative bullshit response to an ex cop killing a gay that got twisted by the press to mean “arguments no one could seriously believe that let evil criminals pretend to be crazy.” i’m saying the argument made in court was not really bullshit, and was not really the reason that white got only 7 years for killing Milk and Moscone. Just myth busting. You definitely used the term correctly in the parlance of our times.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:11:40 +0000

Here’s the definition of First Degree Murder from the Michigan Penal Code (which is substantially similar to other states)

(a) Murder perpetrated by means of poison, lying in wait, or any other willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing

It’s the willful and deliberate part. Most murders involve the decision to kill someone (except involuntary manslaughter)but based on varying mitigating circumstances the state can choose to go for a lesser. In THIS case though the guy made at least 2 premeditated decisions to kill. So thats why I think the state going with the lesser second degree is bullshit.

By: SarahMC

SarahMC — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:00:09 +0000

Lawyer ladies, can you clarify? I though any degree of “murder” necessitates the “decision” to kill someone.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:58:23 +0000

There was a case in MI a year or so ago. Husband killed his wife by strangling her and they charged him with second degree. My boss at the time was like, do you know how long it takes to manually strangle someone? several minutes. He was like, how is it not 1st degree if for a good 3 minutes you’re squeezing the life out of someone? You know you’re doing it, you’re making the decision to kill them. same bullshit.