“The judge determined that the murder is of "high seriousness" and that both defendants played in a key part in killing. So didn't go on to consider the sadistic motive or transphobic comments.”
Why post something so obviously untrue??
The judge’s discussion was broadcast live on television and was on endless repeat on the news yesterday.
She talked in detail about the sadistic nature of the murder and the evidence that there wasn’t just transphobia but that the murder was partly motivated by hostility to Brianna due to her transgender identity, and why both things were aggravating factors which applied to them both, and meant she had to give longer sentences.
To quote the judge:
“I therefore find that you both took part in a brutal and planned murder which was sadistic in nature and where a secondary motive was hostility towards Brianna because of her transgender identity”
The reporting related to the evidence of hostility to Brianna’s transgender identity has been very strange. This thread is full of comments by people saying that it had already been decided that it wasn’t a factor in the case, when that hadn’t been decided at all. The same has been said in the media.
It was always a decision for the judge to make yesterday.
During the live reporting I watched yesterday the reporter kept saying it wasn’t a factor, even while reporting that in court the prosecution were arguing that the evidence was clear that it was a motivation.
The part of Esther Ghey’s impact statement where she talked about the transphobia was also edited out and not reported in some of the news reports yesterday.
The reporter only stopped saying it wasn’t a motivation when the judge was explicit in her ruling that it was a part of the motivation.
The denial, minimisation, and widespread attempts to say it had already been dismissed as a factor have been very odd.