SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – A bill making its way through the Legislature would prevent defendants from using a so-called “gay panic” defense to escape murder charges.
AB2501 heads to the Senate after passing the Assembly May 28 on a 42-16 vote.
California criminal law considers killings done in the heat of passion manslaughter, not murder. The bill says a defendant’s discovery of his victim’s true gender or sexual orientation is not grounds for a “heat of passion” crime.
Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla of Concord says her bill sends a message that violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people is not acceptable.
It’s not clear if a gay panic defense has been used successfully in California. A teenager who shot and killed a gay classmate in 2008 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
