No Death Penalty in Transgender Murder Case

[SandraJane]

NBC Bay Area

No Death Penalty in Transgender Murder Case

District Attorney George Gascón will not pursue the death penalty against a man
accused of raping and murdering a transgendered woman

By Chris Roberts
|Tuesday, Aug 16, 2011  |  Updated 3:20 PM PDT

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/No-Death-Penalty-in-Transgender-Murder-Case-123103978.html


In a test of District Attorney George Gascon's appetite for the death penalty, the man accused of raping and murdering a transgender woman in 2007 will not face the death penalty, according to prosecutors.

Gascon has been on record as a supporter of the death penalty, but has not pursued it as San Francisco's top prosecutor. He has said he would only pursue capital punishment in "very heinous" cases.

[Dawn D.]

Hhhmmm, I wonder what constitutes heinous? 

Dawn

[Pinkfluff]

Just what is more heinous than rape and murder?

[~RoadToTrista~]

Well if she was a ciswoman.........

[Ann Onymous]

DP prosecutions are quite costly, and my guess is that this is a budgetary issue...and it could be an element of that West Coast liberal approach that has pervaded their criminal justice system as their prisons get raked over the coals in the courts. 

Admittedly, with the pattern of conduct, making the necessary showing of future dangerousness that appellate courts look for in a DP case would not seem to be a problem...which brings me back to them likely looking at the cost of prosecution in a case where venue would likely be changed and a lesser sentence imposed by a non-Bay Area jury.   

[Dawn D.]

Ann,

Poignant issues of consideration for certain. And likely that is what has occurred in their selection of prosecutorial decisions. Yet, what would be of interest to watch, note, and keep account of is, whether or not the same level of restraint in pursuit and application of a Just penalty will be garnered for heinous crimes of a similar nature with out the same circumstances pertaining to the victim. I am hoping that there is no bias on the part of the DA.

While I'm not a huge proponent of DP cases, and attempting to look at this one with a more objective eye (if that's possible), the defendant in this case appears to have a history of focusing his crimes upon people with transsexual/gender issues being a part of their lives. Dare I say, repeat, habitual, or serial offender? If not this person as a qualifying case for a DP, who then?


Dawn

[Ann Onymous]

Ann,

Poignant issues of consideration for certain. And likely that is what has occurred in their selection of prosecutorial decisions. Yet, what would be of interest to watch, note, and keep account of is, whether or not the same level of restraint in pursuit and application of a Just penalty will be garnered for heinous crimes of a similar nature with out the same circumstances pertaining to the victim. I am hoping that there is no bias on the part of the DA.

While I'm not a huge proponent of DP cases, and attempting to look at this one with a more objective eye (if that's possible), the defendant in this case appears to have a history of focusing his crimes upon people with transsexual/gender issues being a part of their lives. Dare I say, repeat, habitual, or serial offender? If not this person as a qualifying case for a DP, who then?

The fact that he is a habitual offender is not, in and of itself, a basis to place the DP on the table.  Further, the fact that he is a sex offender is NOT a basis for the DP to be on the table since DP is not applicable to sexual assault of adults (and has serious questions pending in the courts as applied to offenses against children).  If the evidence corroborates that the death occurred in the course of committing another felony, then my understanding of California Penal law is that the death qualifies as 'special circumstances.'

At the moment, it appears that there are just over 700 persons on death row in California, with only one having come out of San Francisco County (which is where it appears jurisdiction for this case would rest).  While that number is higher than what we see here in Texas, my guess is that the trending down exists in CA just as it does here.  The stats from last month show that ONE person has been received into CaDOC on a death sentence during 2011 and that most years since 2000 saw fewer than 30 people received into death row.  Once Texas put an LWOP statute (life without parole) on the books, we began to see that same sort of downward trend for a small handful of reasons.  But chief among them is that, quite frankly, it is cheaper to try the case without the death penalty on the table and to simply let the offender rot.  Juries have qualms in this day and age about imposing capital punishment because we ARE learning about some abuses that were as recent as the mid-80's (just today, there was an article out of Austin about a life sentence in a 1987 case out of Williamson County where evidence appears to have been withheld deliberately). 

I forget what method of capital punishment CA uses, but if they were using lethal injection, there are other issues on the legal front because of certain drugs no longer being available and now appeals are starting up over the execution involving potentially expired drugs.  The debate in appellate courts over the manner of execution (the cocktail used for injections) has the potential to invalidate a number of sentences...and again, brings cost back to the forefront. 

[tekla]

West Coast liberal is probably not the best description of George Gascon.  He's an ex police chief who grew up in the LAPD system, hardly noted as a benevolent organization (and that rep goes back to the 1930, LAPD represents when it comes to police brutality).  Our previous installment - now AG for the state, god help us all - was as fruit-loops liberal as you can get.  She sucked.  But this guy is a real law and order type (San Francisco in the wake of the budget mess has had to take a more grown-up approach to running government).  I'm thinking they don't have the real hard evidence that would really get a death penalty case conviction.

That's because the city of SF itself IS full of  West Coast {latte sipping, limo-riding, bleeding-hearts & artists} liberals and a death penalty case would be hard as hell to try.

[Lisbeth]

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/05/san-francisco-district-attorney-george-gasc-ns-risky-stance-death-penalty

[SandraJane]

Lisabeth, thanks for the article link on D.A. Gascon of SF.