New Mexico Weighs Barring LGBTQ ‘Panic’ Defense in Violence Cases
A crime package headed to the governor of New Mexico’s desk this year includes the elimination of the “queer panic defense,” a strategy that asks a jury to find that a victim is to blame for a defendant’s violent reaction, including murder, because they were surprised about the gender, sex or sexuality of their victim
Landwebs
A crime package headed to the governor of New Mexico’s desk this year includes the elimination of the “queer panic defense,” a strategy that asks a jury to find that a victim is to blame for a defendant’s violent reaction, including murder, because they were surprised about the gender, sex or sexuality of their victim, reports the Las Vegas Optic. The measure, which failed in 2021, also now includes gender and gender expression, meaning that a defendant could not just claim ignorance about the difference between the victim’s gender identity (their self-perception) and gender expression (how they present their gender). Lawmakers and advocates have been trying to get the legislature to ban the panic defense, which was first raised in a New Mexico court some time in the 1970s and will be allowed either until the governor signs the crime package or the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, for about five years. In 2013, the American Bar Association
