Man convicted for the hate crime/murder of TS Lateisha Green

[AllanahStarrNYC]

New York, NY, July 17, 2009 -- The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) today hailed the verdict in the court trial of Lateisha Green, a 22-year-old African American transgender women who was shot and killed on November 14, 2008 in Syracuse, NY. A 12-member jury found 20-year-old Dwight DeLee guilty of manslaughter in the first degree as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.

"Today, justice has been delivered for Lateisha Green with DeLee's conviction for committing a hateful act of violence," said TLDEF Executive Director and attorney Michael Silverman. "The jury's verdict provides Teish's family with the closure that they deserve and need, and sends a clear message that hate violence targeted at transgender people will not be tolerated."

Today's verdict is the first hate crime conviction for the slaying of a transgender person in New York State. It is only the second such conviction in the United States.

TLDEF Executive Director Michael Silverman has been working with the family since Lateisha's death in November. Silverman was on the ground in Syracuse, NY throughout this week's court trial working closely with the family. TLDEF collaborated with its sister organizations including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Rainbow Alliance of Central New York.

"Despite this legal victory, transgender New Yorkers still face a serious risk of violence and discrimination," added Silverman. "New York State law does not include gender identity or expression in its hate crime law and that sends a dangerous message that it is acceptable to leave part of our community vulnerable to hateful acts of violence simply because of who they are. We call upon the New York State Senate and the United States Senate to pass transgender-inclusive legislation that will protect everyone regardless of gender identity and gender expression."

TLDEF will also be attending DeLee's sentencing on August 18th at the Onondaga County Courthouse in Syracuse, NY.

Following the verdict, Lateisha Green's family released this statement:

"Teish, a beautiful girl. A wonderful daughter. A brave soul. Teish was all of these things despite the adversity that regularly tried to weigh her down and overshadow her love of life. She was taken away from us too soon. All it took was one bullet.

"A bullet from a rifle that pierced her lungs and heart. And it took this one mere bullet to end Teish's life because she happened to be a transgender woman. We have spent months waiting for this day to come.

"8 long months that have kept our family captive to our fears, sadness and anger. Afraid to leave our homes, sad to have lost Teish and angry that we couldn't prevent this from happening to our little girl. But today, the jury delivered a verdict that will end most of the horrors experienced by our family and friends.

"The jury convicted Dwight DeLee of killing Teish in cold blood. They found him guilty of targeting Teish simply because of her difference. And the jury has made it clear that any loss of life in our city and county because of anti-gay and anti-transgender bias is unacceptable and wrong. Justice has been done.

"But we will never get to see Teish ever again. She will forever live in our hearts and minds. And it is our duty to share her story so that Teish's memory will be kept alive. We do this so this series of painful events will never happen again to any other person because they are different.

"Our family and friends will continue to talk about Teish so others may know the love and support that every child deserves regardless of their differences. We want to thank everyone who stood behind us and gave our family strength during such difficult times. The overwhelming amount of support has meant so much to us. We want to close by saying life is precious. Teish knew that and that's why she would tell everyone here to be brave. To be authentic and true to yourself. And Teish would give a beautiful and bright smile to everyone here. Thank you."

[SarahG]

I am not sure I would agree with manslaughter being justice.

The guy went and illegally obtained a rifle with the intention of shooting her, and then went wandering about the city trying to find her to kill her.

And then all the witnesses mysteriously ended up being scared into recanting at trial (either his friends got to them, or they didn't see killing a trans person as wrong).

He should have at the least gotten murder 2

[Alyssa87]

thanks for posting.

: (

[Nowhere]

I am not sure I would agree with manslaughter being justice.

The guy went and illegally obtained a rifle with the intention of shooting her, and then went wandering about the city trying to find her to kill her.

And then all the witnesses mysteriously ended up being scared into recanting at trial (either his friends got to them, or they didn't see killing a trans person as wrong).

He should have at the least gotten murder 2

Agreed. I do appreciate this post, but I consider it a FAILURE of the justice system.

It was clearly deliberately premeditated, planned and executed, entirely over a hate-based motive.

He BELONGS on death row, and it's because of EXAMPLES like him, that people will continue to murder tgirls: They KNOW they'll get away from it.

How many trans killers are on death row right now? How many have ever?

That's right. Zero.

Great example, justice system. By failing now, you're going to have another three girls killed by guys knowing now they can get away with it.

:x

[AllanahStarrNYC]

More details

As many of you know, TLDEF staff members have been on the ground in Syracuse, New York, working with the family of slain transgender woman Lateisha Green, who was shot and killed in an alleged hate crime last November. The trial has put a tremendous strain on Lateisha's family, and that strain has only intensified now that the jury has begun its deliberations.

We've been working hard to educate the public about Lateisha's death and the tremendous violence that transgender people face. Each day we've updated our website and the Justice for Teish Facebook page. We've tweeted whenever we could. Before leaving for Syracuse, we launched our Lateisha Green Resource Kit to educate the media and the public about Lateisha and hate violence. GLAAD has been working with us every day on the ground in Syracuse to help generate media interest in a case that had till now been largely ignored. Their extraordinary assistance has helped generate excellent media coverage, which we have collected on our website. The outpouring of community interest - expressed in blogs, Facebook updates, and re-tweets - has been tremendously encouraging to us, and more importantly, to Lateisha's family.

Too much has happened over the course of this week to summarize in one message. Each day of the trial, we have posted a blog about the day's events inside and out of the courtroom. The blogs are emotional, informative, loaded with beautiful pictures and video, and represent our most accurate portrayal of the unbelievable events that have unfolded here. Most of all, we hope they will provide you with a sense of Lateisha's family, and through them, Lateisha herself. The blogs are long and emotionally draining to read at times, but we think you will find them to be worth your time and effort.



Show Your Support

Please send personal notes of encouragement to Lateisha's family during this difficult time. You can email correspondence to: rgreen269@gmail.com. We can't guarantee the family will be able to reply to your emails, but we know that they'll read them and that they appreciate everyone's support. Please write!

Stay Informed

For continued updates throughout the trial, stay tuned to all of the following sources:

our website;
TLDEF on Twitter;
the “Justice for Teish” Facebook page; and
GLAAD on Twitter.
The case is now in the hands of the jury. Twitter will be the first place we will be able to announce the verdict when it comes down. For now, we hope for justice for Lateisha Green, and a measure of comfort for her stricken family.

[SarahG]

I am not sure I would agree with manslaughter being justice.

The guy went and illegally obtained a rifle with the intention of shooting her, and then went wandering about the city trying to find her to kill her.

And then all the witnesses mysteriously ended up being scared into recanting at trial (either his friends got to them, or they didn't see killing a trans person as wrong).

He should have at the least gotten murder 2

Agreed. I do appreciate this post, but I consider it a FAILURE of the justice system.

It was clearly deliberately premeditated, planned and executed, entirely over a hate-based motive.

He BELONGS on death row, and it's because of EXAMPLES like him, that people will continue to murder tgirls: They KNOW they'll get away from it.

How many trans killers are on death row right now? How many have ever?

That's right. Zero.

Great example, justice system. By failing now, you're going to have another three girls killed by guys knowing now they can get away with it.

:x


Not only that but the guy was a repeat offender who committed the crime WHILE OUT EARLY FROM HIS LAST CRIME. The system had already given him a break, and that's why he was on the streets the night he killed her.

Oh, and the ex-con wasn't supposed to have access to a firearm. There was another crime committed here; either the friend illegally lent him a firearm, OR DeLee stole a firearm to commit the murder.

If they'd have wanted to throw the book at him they'd have also gotten him for that illegal firearm possession...

Now the guy will go in, do maybe another 5 years, and for all we know- let out early again so he can go kill someone else. :x

[vincidog]

Manslaughter?
Here are two local recent cases which were determined manslaughter:
1) Drunk driver hit and killed an older lady on her bicycle

2) At a large family beach outing drunk man buried his young son in the sand....boy asphyxiated

The Green case has every element of premeditated murder necessary for a murder 1 conviction. There was no justice here

[peggygee]

May she rest in peace

http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/Lateisha_Green.jpg

[MrsKellyPierce]

Congrats on the hate crime verdict, but yet again another man that will be out of prison soon for the killing of a TS.

It's pathetic.....TRULY!

[Legend]

Wow these transgender and gay murder cases are a freakin joke, what the hell would stop someone from killing someone who is trans or gay if they know they aren't going to get death and they may get out of prison early.Please and for the love of everything get rid of that pathetic gay panic defense.

[SarahG]

Wow these transgender and gay murder cases are a freakin joke, what the hell would stop someone from killing someone who is trans or gay if they know they aren't going to get death and they may get out of prison early.Please and for the love of everything get rid of that pathetic gay panic defense.

Actually this wasn't really a gay panic case, since the defense wasn't truly trying to argue that he was "tricked."

This was simply a case of a guy who hates trans people going and illegally obtaining a firearm so he can hunt down & kill someone for simply being trans. The evidence was so overwhelming the defense didn't even try the smoke & mirror tactics that are usually used in these cases.

The jury agreed, but because the victim was trans (aka a "second class citizen") they went with manslaughter instead of murder. DeLee probably would have gotten more time for killing someone in a DUI accident.

[SarahG]

UPDATE:

The father of two of the witnesses that testified against DeLee has been shot and is seriously injured:


Police: Shooting of father of trial witnesses may be retaliation
by Robert A. Baker and Jim O'Hara / The Post-Standard
Thursday July 23, 2009, 3:41 PM

Syracuse, NY -- The father of two prosecution witnesses in a local high-profile, hate-crime trial was shot and critically injured Wednesday night, Syracuse police said.

The shooting came one week after the judge in the case warned defendant Dwight DeLee that there would be serious consequences for him if prosecution witnesses continued to be threatened.

Johnny Gaston Sr., 47, of Garfield Avenue, was taken to Crouse Hospital about 6:30 p.m. with a wound to his neck, Sgt. Tom Connellan said.

A second man, Lavaughn Polk, 22, also of Garfield Avenue, was taken to Crouse Irving about the same time with a gunshot wound to his left forearm, police records state.

Police don't know where the two men were injured. Gaston was too badly injured to talk with police and Polk declined to cooperate with police, Connellan said.

"We're looking at the possibility that this may be some kind of retaliation," Connellan said. "We're looking at that very closely."

Johnny Gaston Jr. and his sister, Jasmine Gaston, were both prosecution witnesses in the DeLee trial.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Doran said police were keeping him informed about the investigation since he was one of the prosecutors for the trial.

"It's one of the aspects of the investigation," he said of the retaliation theory. "We're trying to determine if the fact Johnny and Jasmine Gaston testified at the trial last week was a factor."

Doran said there had been no reports of any problems stemming from the trial since DeLee was convicted Friday.

During the trial, County Judge William Walsh warned DeLee there could be consequences to the defense if he was linked in any way to reported threats being made during trial to prosecution witnesses.

Although the Gaston siblings testified for the prosecution, they both balked at providing the same incriminating information about DeLee they had initially provided police. Doran also said they were not among the witnesses Walsh was referring to when the judge mentioned witnesses being threatened.

At one point in the trial, Walsh asked if Doran was seeking to have Jasmine Gaston charged with perjury. Doran said he was looking only to get before the jury the incriminating comments Gaston made in her police statement.

DeLee, 22, was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime in the death of Moses Cannon. Cannon, 22, has been described by family members as a transgender person who went by the name LaTeisha "Teish" Green.

DeLee was convicted Friday and faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Because of his prior record and the hate crime finding, he faces a minimum of at least 10 years in prison, Doran said.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/police_shooting_of_father_of_t.html

[tg4me]

Sorry, I don't believe in the concept of 'hate crime'.
To me it sounds like first degee murder. You should talk about the hate during the trail and penalty phase, but I don't think we needed a specific law for that. What he did was enough for the death penalty.

[SarahG]

Sorry, I don't believe in the concept of 'hate crime'.
To me it sounds like first degee murder. You should talk about the hate during the trail and penalty phase, but I don't think we needed a specific law for that. What he did was enough for the death penalty.

I believe it should be used to dictate jurisdiction & oversight, not sentencing. Maybe then the feds would have handled this one and actually done something about the witness tampering problems that plagued this case.

Having all your witnesses either full out recant, or severely alter their testimony is a strong indicator that something is wrong.

Also could have helped if the case was moved to a place where the local media weren't effecting the jury pool with a long series of poorly written articles using incorrect pronouns, names, and so forth.