Jury Reaches Verdicts For 2 Of 3 Accused In Araujo Slaying

Jury Reaches Verdicts For 2 Of 3 Accused In Araujo Slaying
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: September 8, 2005 7:00 pm ET

(Hayward, California) The Jury in the trial of three men accused of murdering transgendered teen Gwen Araujo have reached verdicts for two of the defendants.

Jose Merel, Michael Magidson and Jason Cazares, all 25, are charged with first degree murder with hate crime enhancements.

The eight men and four women on the jury handed their verdicts to Alameda County Superior Court Judge Harry Sheppard Thursday afternoon. Sheppard ordered that the verdicts be sealed until the fate of the third man is known.

Seventeen year old Gwen Araujo was beaten, battered with a shovel and then strangled to death in October 2002. Her body was found in a shallow grave several days later

In issuing his order Sheppard did not indicate which two of the three have been dealt with.

The jury contains two lawyers, and has returned to the court three times in the past week to see evidence and have testimony read back.

Tuesday jurors asked Alameda County Superior Court Judge Harry Sheppard to see several pieces of physical evidence in the case.

They spent about 15 minutes behind locked doors in the courtroom examining several pieces of rope that District Attorney ChrisLamiero had said were used to strangle the teen.

During testimony in the trial a pathologist testified Araujo died as a result of strangulation in conjunction with blunt force trauma.

It was the third time the jury of eight men and four women have asked to review evidence since they began deliberations a week ago.

Friday jurors asked to read Cazares' testimony from the first trial along with the transcripts from his initial interview with Newark police.

On Wednesday the four-woman, eight-man jury returned to courtroom to ask for three key pieces of testimony read back for them.

The jury first asked to hear again statements by Merel where he said he had not killed Araujo but refused to directly answer a prosecution question if it was Magidson who had strangled the teen. Eventually Merel said that Magidson originally had told him to say he did because he was single and willing to go to prison to protect the other two.

The other two pieces of testimony read back to jurors were from Magidson. One concerned his claim that a fourth man, Jaron Nabors killed Arajuo when he hit here in the face.

Nabors was the prosecution's star witness. Under a deal with prosecutors he earlier pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for testimony against his three friends.

In his testimony Magidson told jurors that he held Araujo's head while Nabors punched her. Magidson then testified that Nabors may have had a 5-pound weight in his hand when he delivered the blow.

This is the second trial for the three defendants. Their first trial ended in a hung jury last year when jurors were unable to reach agreement on whether to find the men guilty of first or second degree murder. (story)

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