29-year-old Rasheen Everett assumed he was getting just what he wanted when he answered an ad for prostitute Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar in 2010, and so, was surprised to discover the transgendered sex worker’s male genitalia after they met up at her Queens, New York apartment. Rasheen weighed his options and went with the least sensible: strangling her to death with his bare hands. Neighbors reported hearing screams and struggling, followed by 17 hours of silence, after which Everett left the apartment carrying multiple heavy bags. You’d think somebody would’ve called the police, but this is Queens we’re talking about, the same spot as the Murder of Kitty Genovese; entire schools of psychology are dedicated to people from Queens not giving a shit about this kind of thing. Rasheen fled to Las Vegas, was arrested within a month, and now, two years later we are reminded of the ugly truth behind trans-discrimination by none other than his scumbag lawyer, John Scarpa.Last Thursday, during Rasheen’s sentencing, Scarpa argued that the 25-to-life sentence handed down by the judge was a bit harsh for what amounted to a hate crime, first-degree murder, disfigurement of the body, burglary, and evading arrest. Not for some silly reason like circumstantial evidence or temporary insanity, no. “A sentence of 25 years to life is an incredibly long period of time, Judge, shouldn’t that be reserved for people who are guilty of killing certain classes of individuals?”Now, I’m no lawyer, but it stands to reason that if you don’t understand the basic tenants of the 14th Amendment, and if you suggest that people of a lower class don’t deserve the same protection and prosecution rights as everybody else, I’d say you probably shouldn’t be representing anybody in a court of law. Scarpa followed up the most outrageous and disgusting thing he’s ever said publicly with, “Who is the victim in this case? Is the victim a person in the higher end of the community?” Attempting to besmirch the life of the murder victim with a smear tactic aimed at her lifestyle, he continued, “Amanda was engaged in a life of prostitution, life of drug use, HIV exposure, she was having sex with other individuals knowing she had the chance of spreading diseases.”Scarpa later clarified his remarks, using the incorrect gender pronoun when referring to Amanda, “He himself was guilty of attempted murder," a reference to the suggestion that being a trans prostitute meant an increased risk of HIV, and thus an increased risk of transmission. To be clear, the defense of the guy who literally murdered someone is saying the victim was “guilty” of “attempted murder” for possibly having HIV. Jesus Fucking Christ.But don’t worry, Scarpa’s idiocy wasn’t contained to just attacking the victim and the prosecution, he fucked up his own line of questioning too. While Rasheen’s ex-girlfriend was being cross-examined on the stand, simply after being called up to identify Rasheen as the man on surveillance video, Scarpa broke the cardinal rule of lawyering and asked the witness a question he did not know the answer to: why the couple originally broke up. “Our breakup was because he choked me," she said to gasps from the audience and jury. “I dislike him for what he did to me.” One woman covered her mouth, another shook her head. “And this is your opportunity for revenge!” snapped an embarrassed Scarpa before the judge asked for his comment to be stricken from the record. Photos of the abused ex-girlfriend and a police report procured later in the trial did nothing to help either idiot lawyer or his violent client.Thankfully, Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter was having not one bit of that shit, and sentenced Rasheen to 29 years in prison, rebuking Scarpa’s remarks and telling the public, “This court believes every human life in sacred, it’s not easy living as a transgender, and I commend the family for supporting her.”@jules_su
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