With the Lateisha Green murder case scheduled to start in Syracuse, NY on June 11, an attempt made yesterday by Dwight DeLee defense attorney Clarence Johnson to wipe out the hate crimes charge against his client was struck down by Onondaga County Judge William Welsh.Johnson had asked Walsh to find the hate crime law unconstitutionally vague and general. He also asserted that the law was unconstitutional in its specific application to DeLee.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Doran of course has the opposite opinion and defended the statute and the prosecution of DeLee in court.
After listening to the legal arguments, Judge Walsh sided with the prosecution and upheld the constitutionality of the state's hate crime law in the murder prosecution of Dwight DeLee.
The case will be allowed to go forward as a hate crime murder prosecution.
DeLee is charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime in the November 14, 2008 shooting death of transwoman Lateisha 'Teish' Green, born with the last name of Cannon, who the prosecution contends the victim was targeted because of her gender identity.
TransGriot Note: The Syracuse area papers are STILL having problems with applying the AP Stylebook, so I cleaned up and rewrote the article my damned self as per TransGriot policy when I run across piss poor reporting on transgender issues.
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