Andrey Bridges Trial Starts In Cleveland

TransGriot readers, here's another trial for us to keep our eyes on to see if the deceased trans person and all who loved them gets justice.

The murder trial of 36 year old Andrey Bridges, who is accused of killing 20 year old Cemia Dove Acoff began on Tuesday in Cleveland.  He is charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

Bridges has a long and violent criminal history that includes felonious assault and four stints in prison.  He was on probation in 2010 to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Hollie L. Gallagher for one of those assault charges according to Cleveland.com when he was arrested in connection to the Acoff case.

And guess who the presiding judge is in this case?  

According to the report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Rachel Dissell, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Brian Radigan briefly described for the jury how Dove's body was found and how police used taxi cab call records to link Bridges to the crime. He didn't present a motive but said witnesses would tell the story as the trial unfolded.  

Defense attorney Henry Hilow told jurors that there had been a lot of talk and conjecture about what the case was about. He asked the jurors to consider evidence and witness testimony, not theories.
"We're not here to create false impressions," he said. "It's about fact."

Well, Mr. Hilow, the fact is that a 20 year old person is no longer on this planet, and the evidence points to your client being the reason that's the case.  

But as I know from almost 20 years of being Moni and 15 years of trans activism, murder trials involving trans feminine victims, especially transfeminine victims of color sometimes have not so just endings.

I'm still concerned the blatant demonizing misgendering of Ms Acoff gleefully engaged in earlier this year by the Cleveland Plain Dealer may still have an effect on the jury pool that was empaneled yesterday

The jury in the Bridges trial has been selected, and they are taking a trip out to the Olmstead Township, OH crime scene that will be the focus of this case.

Let's just hope justice is served when they return to the courtroom, hear all of the evidence presented in this case by the prosecutors and defense attorneys and render their verdict.