Vallum pleaded guilty to stabbing and bludgeoning Mercedes after friends learned of their relationship.
Transgender-rights advocates say there is an "epidemic of violence" against the minority community.
Analysis:
Think of "hate" as something of a term of art - it's not the emotion which is the problem, but rather the fact that the status or identity of the victim is the reason for the crime. That is, this crime would not have been committed were the victim not transgender. If the victim's identity/status is an influencing factor in the motivation for the crime, it's a hate crime. If the victim is a victim solely due to wrong place/wrong time, it's not.
As for "a la Crying Game", that would be a "heat of the moment" defense which has reduced first-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter in some cases, although the reasoning for that requires that the discovery be so offensive as to inspire violence, which is in itself a reprehensible argument in this case.
As for "a la Crying Game", that would be a "heat of the moment" defense which has reduced first-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter in some cases, although the reasoning for that requires that the discovery be so offensive as to inspire violence, which is in itself a reprehensible argument in this case.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/05/16/gang-member-who-killed-transgender-woman-he-was-dating-is-first-to-be-sentenced-under-federal-hate-crime-law/?utm_term=.88526f02910d#comments
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