Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: "Transgender Bridge"

[Dudedude12345]

My dad watches Law & Order SUV regularly and this past Wednesday was the season premiere called "Transgender Bridge", The story was about a group of boys assault a transgendered girl and threw her off the bridge. They were going to charge them with assault until she dies and the one that throws her gets tried as an adult and gets charged with manslaughter. Everybody thinks its extreme because he's going to serve 7 years, including my dad. I cant defend him because he was in the wrong since the beginning. It was a better episode than the other episode where Katherine Moening played a transgendered teen




http://www.hulu.com/watch/850769

[youngblood61]

My dad watches Law & Order SUV regularly and this past Wednesday was the season premiere called "Transgender Bridge", The story was about a group of boys assault a transgendered girl and threw her off the bridge. They were going to charge them with assault until she dies and the one that throws her gets tried as an adult and gets charged with manslaughter. Everybody thinks its extreme because he's going to serve 7 years, including my dad. I cant defend him because he was in the wrong since the beginning. It was a better episode than the other episode where Katherine Moening played a transgendered teen




http://www.hulu.com/watch/850769He took a life how extreme is that?

[Dudedude12345]

No, they think the sentence is extreme

[CaptainPlanet]

No, they think the sentence is extreme
Extreme no, should be a Murder Charge

[Burnbabyburn]

My thoughts also. The defendant's mother crying over a seven year sentence is laughable, when the victim's parents have lost their child forever. Sad.

[sucka4chix]

Not for nothing, but that was alternative lifestyle night on broadcast tv. 95% of shows on that night had a gay character or gay storyline. IJS.
As far as SVU, I didn't watch past the beginning, but that was not murder. Nobody planned on the victim falling off a bridge.

[Caleigh]

You know that "transgender panic defense" is a thing?

People have received reduced sentences because they found out that someone was gay or transgender. The ONLY state right now in which this cannot be used is California. It might not always work, that is up to the judge and jury but it can be pulled out to try and get sympathy from people, like your father, who somehow thing that killing a transgendered or gay person is less of a crime than killing a straight person.

[d.bandy]

Putting the lawyer hat on for a second. Murder is generally about intent and premeditation. However, premeditation can be a very short period of time. I have not seen the episode but if the defendant lead the victim up to the bridge with the intent of pushing her off the bridge, then the state would likely argue premeditated with the intent to kill because pushing somebody off a bridge is likely to result in there death. Now the problem lies with what the prosecutor can actually get a jury to go with. This is one of the problem's with juries in general, they are prejudiced. Manslaughter is likely all the prosecutor could get. As for the adult v. minor, depends on age, the state the charge is brought in and the maturity of the defendant.

[sucka4chix]

Here's a very good recap:
http://allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com/2015/09/law-order-svu-transgender-bridge-recap.html?m=1
The victim was on the bridge. The other boy and his friends went over to purposely tease the victim. After a struggle over victims camera, the boy pushed the victim off of him, basically because he didn't want a "freak" on him and the victim tripped over their high heels and fell off the bridge. The perpetrator was black, from the projects and the victim was well-to-do and white. The perp was supposedly 15 and seemed younger and a lot smaller than the victim.

[d.bandy]

Yeah, under those facts the best a prosecutor could do is manslaughter and likely involuntary manslaughter which is probably going tobe less than 10 years in jail. Probably a lot less actually.

[lifeisfiction]

There was no way he would of gotten voluntary murder. I could think of possiblly one former prosecutor who could make the argument, maybe two. Involuntary murder under serious bodily injury is there best bet. I don't know of any state that permits the death penalty or would give life in prison for that scenario (well I should say most likely would not). I know law order cases are usually based on real court cases. One judge told me that they usually butcher the real case in order to make it interesting for tv.

[d.bandy]

The best way to think of involuntary manslaughter is exteme negligence. There is no intent, no premeditation. Not going to see sentences beyond 10 years.

[lifeisfiction]

Exactly, it sounds harsh, but its the best the State would get.

[saifan]

Yet people go to prison for life on drug charges.