Article: Mistrial In Transgender Teen Murder Case

Mistrial In Transgender Teen Murder Case
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: June 22, 2004 1:51 pm ET

(Hayward, California) A mistrial was declared Tuesday in the trial of three men charged with the killing of trans teen Gwen Araujo.

The jury had tried for three weeks to reach a decision on the fate of Michael Magidson, Jose Merel and Jason Cazares, all 24. The stumbling block was whether to find them guilty of first degree murder which the prosecution had called for, second degree murder or manslaughter which the defense had argued was justified.

After returning to the courtroom Monday to hear Judge Harry Sheppard reread them his instructions on reaching a conclusion and answer questions concerning the differences between first degree murder and manslaughter, the jurors attempted again for nearly an hour to reach a verdict.

Late in the day the jury sent Sheppard a note saying they wished to see him again Tuesday. Sheppard did not reveal any other contents of the note.

This morning, the jury foreman today told the judge that the jurors took seven ballots for Merel and Magidson and four ballots for Cazares.

While they finally agreed to discount manslaughter they could not agree on first or second degree murder.

"It appears to the court that this jury is hopelessly deadlocked," Sheppard said.

The District Attorney's Office must now decide whether to retry the men.

In his closing arguments three weeks ago, prosecutor Chris Lamiero had asked the jury to find Michael Magidson, Jose Merel and Jason Cazares, all 24, guilty of first-degree murder, calling the killing a cold-blooded execution. (story)

But, defense attorney Michael Thorman maintains the trio acted out of panic when they discovered the teen was biologically male. Thorman maintains they should be convicted of manslaughter.

Araujo was beaten, battered with a shovel and then strangled to death in October 2002. Her body was found in a shallow grave several days later.

A fourth man, Jaron Nabors, has already pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for testimony against his three friends.

“Because the defense team tried to make this a trial about Gwen’s gender identity instead of the defendants’ conduct, a lot of us were anxious about this verdict,” said Christopher Daley, Co-Director of the Transgender Law Center .

“Even though I am disappointed by the delay in achieving justice for Gwen, I am heartened that these jurors refused to let these young men escape responsibility for their horrific choices.”

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