GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

"After the guilty plea was read on July 22, Mrs. Corrales, Amancio's mother, stood and spoke in a passionate and emotionally charged voice stating, "He didn't kill a person but a whole family. I don't agree (with the plea). It is not fair."

http://www.wingspan.org/content/news_wingspan_details.php?story_id=531

Stories like this make me sick!

Manslaughter my ass.

This seems to be the typical response of the judicial system when it comes to violence against anyone who is trans. It's always treated as manslaughter because it's not premeditated or at least it can't be proven to be. It's an extension of the phobia most men have.

Only premeditated murder carries the heavier sentence although judges and juries can choose to give maximum sentences in manslaughter cases but that is usually no more than 25 years.

I know it's ridiculous and that's why it's important to have hate crime laws in place. Unfortunately most states don't have such laws and legal authorities are often reluctant to add that to charges in states where there is such a law.

It was important that they did add the hate crime charges in the murder of Angelica Zapata in Greeley, Colorado.

First degree murder requires premeditation. Second degree murder is when someone intentionally kills without premeditation (or with knowledge if not intent). Manslaughter is when there are circumstances that enrage someone to do something they would not normally do, such as a man catching another man in bed with his wife. It is a circumstance that makes the actions somewhat excusable in the eyes of the public, as in any man could snap under those circumstances. So they are saying that the murder is somewhat excusable, because the tranny sorta had it coming.

Anyway, I don't understand why it is ATTEMPTED manslaughter. I mean, did not the death occur? What is up with that?

What makes me is the justification behind accepting a plea bargain for such a light sentence. This wasn't a case of attempted manslaughter, the victim died; it was not just a murder but also a hate crime. Why would they prosecutor's office accept such a light sentence? They must have felt Amancio Corrales had it coming, since he looked like a woman but had a penis.

A lot of people joke around that the last group it is o.k. to discriminate against is fat people. I don't endorse discriminating against anyone, but apparently, it's still acceptable to discriminate against trans-folks, even if one of us gets killed, all the murderer gets is a slap on the wrist, after all, we have it coming for...?
Being deceitful?
Wanting a penis removed?
Using up the world's supply of horse piss?

@#$%^&*&^*%$#@ !!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't understand this attempted shit either. Yet why doesn't this surprise me? I mean Yuma AZ is still in the stone age isn't it? It's like the prosecutor felt he did a public service. I mean it is an election year, and the DA probably didn't want to be seen as defending what he considered a faggot's right to life. That would spell political doom.

In most of the planet killing TS women is perfectly legal. Or at least seems to be. Here, at least the murderer gets a slap on the wrist. It's something, no?

There's not justice for weak minorities anywhere. That's the bottom line. People can only respect those they fear.

I'm not sure that people 'respect' those they fear, but they may think twice before shitting on them.

Meanwhile, across the pond...

Man cleared of transsexual murder
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7561957.stm

You know what frightens me the most? Besides the fact that they called it attempted manslaughter(and the poor girl died),the ass only has to serve 8 years, only pay 50,000 in restitution, and he is free. The Case that is going on right in my back yard. The girl was bludgoned to death with a fire extinguisher, and the boy admitted to killing "it". The Weld County DA is looking for 1st degree murder, as a hate crime, but this jack ass is going to be able to plea down. What if he gets the same allowances as the ass in AZ? The girl in AZ didn't deserve what happened to her, and neither did the girl in CO.
It's sad when the government trivializes death of a human being, just because he or she doesn't fit into societies mold. What kind of message is this sending?

It's sending the message that it's ok to kill someone who is ts.It's the boys club at work again covering one of their members asses,as usual.He will have several years of prison to survive though,and maybe we'll all get lucky and someone will take him out while he's in there.He should be getting a life sentence at the minimum.

The big problem is there are too many people, who believe all the crap put out by the religious right.

Too many sheep!

Man dressed up and acting like a woman plus add the word homosexual sex and society see's the victim as being in the wrong and the actual instigator...

Kind of like being Native American back in the 1800's and making sexual advances on a white woman.

MEDIA RELEASE

THE AMANCIO PROJECT

Saturday, August 21, 2008

Contact: Michael H. Baughman at TheAmancioProject@gmail.com

www.TheAmancioProject.org


Murderer of Amancio Convicted



Yuma, AZ – Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, the Honorable Andrew W. Gould accepts the Plea Agreement arrived at in the case of the State of Arizona vs. Ruben Solorio-Valenzuela, for the murder of Amancio Corrales on May 6, 2005. Valenzuela plead guilty to Attempted Manslaughter with Aggravated Circumstances, a felony. Valenzuela will also be required to pay restitution to the family in an amount not to exceed $50,000.00. A monetary fine was also ordered by the court.



Valenzuela's sentence will begin today and he will be credited for 456 days time served. He will be required to serve 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole.



At the time of Valenzuela's arrest for the murder of Amancio, he was under Community Supervision (probation) for an unrelated crime; False Imprisonment resulting from a domestic violence incident involving his wife. Judge Gould ruled on both cases ordering both sentences to run consecutively. That means when he serves his prison term for the Corrales murder, he will then begin serving his Community Supervision for the previous crime. This development occurred only days before today's sentencing and is viewed by the family and The Amancio Project as an unexpected bonus.



Just prior to sentencing, the family presented their Victim's Impact Statement in the form of a Power Point Presentation which was also seen on Yuma's Public Access Court TV Channel 77 (http://www.yuma77.tv/bbs/zboard.php?id=CourtLive). The courtroom was silent and deeply moved with many weeping. Valenzuela kept his head turned away and did not watch the presentation. Judge Gould asked Valenzuela if he wished to make a statement. He declined to do so.



Judge Gould expressed his sympathy to the Corrales family citing he understands what they are feeling because he has a son.



The "aggravated circumstances" in the plea agreement are: 1. that a deadly weapon was used in the commission of the offense, and 2. Corrales' death caused great emotional harm to his surviving family.



In agreeing to the plea deal Yuma County Prosecutor Levi Gunderson told the court Valenzuela had not planned to murder Corrales, but acted in the "heat of passion" out of "rage and humiliation" when he discovered Corrales was a male.



Valenzuela had confessed to family members the morning of the murder. According to court records, the day of the killing, he fled to Guadalajara, Mexico, for three months. He remained un-caught for his crime for over two years, until a courageous anonymous individual came forward with information which lead to his arrest. The activities of The Amancio Project and Mr. Michael H. Baughman individually, were credited by the Prosecutor for helping substantially in finding Valenzuela and bringing him to justice.



In addition to members of the Corrales family and good friends, the audience also included members from The Yuma County Rights Group, Speak Out Yuma (AWC) and representatives from Wingspan's Anti-Violence Project located in Tucson.

After family and friends left the courtroom, they met briefly with the members of the media. "This wound will never heal. It will always be open," Mrs. Corrales said outside the courthouse. "The court process has been like a knife always reopening the wound."


After the media interviews with various members of the family and friends, Mrs. Corrales invited the family and friends to her home to relax after their emotional hour in court. Later in the evening, a private graveside remembrance took place to bring a symbolic closure to this three year plus ordeal. While there, the "crystal angel pin" Mr. Baughman has been wearing since the first vigil, given to him by the grandmother of Amancio and where he "vowed not to remove it until the murder was convicted," was removed from his shirt thus closing this chapter of the Project's efforts.



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