Murderer of Transwoman Gets the Maximum Sentence
08/21/09 – by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
http://lezgetreal.com/?p=20852&cpage=1 (http://lezgetreal.com/?p=20852&cpage=1)
The man who murdered Lateisha Green was sentenced to the maximum allowed under New York law for manslaughter. Dwight DeLee will spend the next 25 years in prison for manslaughter charge plus another five years for a hate crime. Last month jurors convicted DeLee of manslaughter largely because they believed that he had not intended to kill Ms. Green. Jurors rejected the charge of second-degree murder on that basis. Typically, first degree murder is considered for cases where premeditation has occurred. Second-degree murder is charged when someone murders someone else without premeditation for that direct crime. Manslaughter is usually invoked in cases where death occurs in instances where there was not the intent to kill. Part of the reason why jurors returned with a conviction of manslaughter is because DeLee appears to have fired at Mark Cannon instead of targeting Ms. Green directly. Mr. Cannon was struck in the arm and the bullet then killed Ms. Green.