Second trial to begin in transgender killing case

Associated Press
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
(San Jose Mercury News)
 

HAYWARD, California. - The second trial of three men accused of killing a transgender teenager gets under way Wednesday with opening statements set to begin.  Attorneys in the case finished picking a jury Tuesday, a process that began about three weeks ago.  On trial are Michael Magidson, Jose Merel and Jason Cazares, all 25.  The three are charged with first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo. Araujo was born Edward, but came to believe her true identity was as a woman. A judge granted her family's posthumous name-change request.

Last year, a jury deadlocked after defense attorneys argued the case was not murder but manslaughter, a crime committed in the heat of passion sparked by sexual deception.  The teenager's family and transgender activists denounced that strategy as blaming the victim.
Prosecutors say Araujo was beaten and strangled after her biological identity was revealed during a 2002 confrontation at Merel's house in Newark, a San Francisco suburb.

According to trial testimony, Merel and Magidson became suspicious of
Araujo's identity after having sexual encounters with her.