In memory of Angie Zapata.
Angie Zapata is a young transwoman who was murdered by convicted killer Allen Andrade. Angie was murdered in July 2008 in Greely, Colorado and the GLBT community came together to support the Zapata family and to catch a killer. Allen Andrade was found by police in the car that Angie had borrowed from her sister. Allen Andrade was arrested and the murder trial began on April 16th 2009. The trial was my first assignment as a transgender advocate. I did updates every day for Transgriot (a blog site created and run by Monica Roberts). Here is some of the vidoes and blogging in tribute to a transwoman we lost here in Colorado.
Here is some of the blogging I did from the trial.
Today the jury was finally picked and we were allowed in the afternoon for the start of the trial. It was hard to see the defendant who admitted that he killed her. The defense attorneys are claiming that he "snapped" when he learned Angie was actually born male. The prosecution has evidence that Allen Andrade knew she was transgendered 36 hours before he killed her. There is even proof that he escorted her to court for a traffic ticket where Angie was called by her male name at that appearance. In the courtroom Shari and I were seated four rows back. The first two were media the third was for the defendants family and friends (that was weird) and in the fourth through sixth was for the public. For information on the trial go to GreeleyTribune.com and click on the live box for the twitter blog which gives a lot of information. ------Court TV In Session will start live feeds on TruTV starting in the morning. I have been interviewed by Beth Karas (the corespondent) and will be on and off during the trial. I do not know when they will air it and I am looking forward to seeing it. So keep watching! Will keep you all informed as much as I can. Winter storm coming through tonight through Saturday so I do not know if I will be able to get there tomorrow. All areas are expecting at least a foot of snow. GOD Bless!
Hello! I am at home and not at the courthouse due to a snowstorm. I am watching the case at home and it appeared to me today that the judge cleared the courtroom. The reason is that video and pictures that were taken from the crime scene and autopsy were private. As I watch this on tv I saw a poll where 70% believed that the agree with the hate crime additional charge. Most people leaving comments at the CNN.com/crime (also where you can find live streaming video of the trial) said that it is her fault if she did not tell him. However, the prosecutor says she is able to show that he knew 36hrs before he killed her. So those that believe he did not know about her transgender status may have to eat their words. CNN also did an on street interview with people on the street and asked them about the tolerence of transgender people in the US. Most said one of two things. Either that it depended where you live or that there is not enough tolerence by the general population toward transgender people. This is the latest and I will keep you all informed if there is any more interesting news.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I watched the afternoon session on the computer. Some of the Zapata family members testified today and two of them did exceptional. One of Angie's sisters (who is lesbian) kept throwing back to the defense attorney (who still have been calling Angie "Justin" and "him") my sister and Angie. She really did not answer a question until she made the defense attorney answer "yes" when she would say "you mean my sister Angie". I was applauding her effort. ----The oldest sister is the other one that I applauded. Since she was the one that found Angie it was hard for her to testify. Most of the time (90%) she was able to keep herself composed. The biggest part of her testimony was that she told Angie to be honest to other she meets about her birth gender. She also testified that she witnessed Angie telling people her true birth gender. This is a blow to the defense that he did not know. Why would Angie stop telling others when her older sister drilled it into her and warned her about how others might not accept her. These, I feel, were the highlights of the afternoon. -----Finally, it was brought out in court (before lunch break) that the police found a fire extinguisher alongside a road near Greeley. It is not known if this is the missing fire extinguisher that is the murder weapon that was missing from Angie's apartment. Will be at courthouse on Monday. Glad I did not go up north. We are getting anywhere from 2-3 inches per hour. Will update Monday sometime.
Hello everyone from Greeley, Colorado. The trial started this morning with testimony of a forensic investigator. The jury got to see more pics of Angie"s battered body. He testified that the injuries were from blunt trauma and that it was a homicide. He also testified that Angie had many fractured skull pieces on her right side along with bruising by the eyelid and eye. She also had bruising and bleeding just between the lid and the eyeball. The rest of the testimony concerned establishing the trail of receipts of the stolen debit card and also this morning was the court tape recording in which Angie was in court for her traffic citation and we heard the call JUSTIN ZAPATA on that recording. Just before lunch Angie(the former girlfriend of Andrede) was on the stand and is expected to go back on after lunch. THIS IS SOMETHING TO WATCH!!! She is very nervous and I have already caught her in some lies. She still has feelings for Andrede and I believe that they will be playing the jail recordings between him and her. This will be an interesting afternoon. Also, the Judge on lunch break will be reviewing transcripts from the web page Mocospace that the prosecution has obtained from that site. These are from Angie. The defense is trying to say that they are hearsay and should not be admissible. We will soon find out. Court starts at 130pm. Inform you all later.
This afternoon did prove to be interesting. Before I get to that I did forget to mention that the alleged murder weapon (the missing fire extinguisher) was brought into evidence. It was found alongside the highway two months after the murder occurred. The Mocospace text from Angie's site was not allowed into evidence. However, another ex-girlfriend of Andrede was on the stand. Her name is Felicia. She was also on recorded tapes from conversations with Andrede from jail. There are three interesting points to her testimony and tapes so far. First, she testified that Andrede when angry snaps. This would be bad except the way she said it sounded to me like it was rehearsed. After all, he spent two weeks with her after killing Angie and was the girlfriend he gave two of Angie's purses to. Second, in the taped conversation she mentions that Andrede was on the Mocospace in the BI-SEXUAL area. Also, she asked Andrede if she had to be tested for anything (referring to STD's) and he replied that nothing ever got that far. He had claimed to have had oral sex with Angie.The agent with the Cime Lab who did DNA testing on some evidence came up with (what I believe) is a significant finding. The police sent to the lab a pink vibrator and it had a significant amount of DNA on it that belonged to Andrede. To give you some information the Agent testified that the only way to get that much DNA on the vibrator was by semen, vaginal secretions, or through anal penetration. The defense tried to say that maybe sweat on the hands could produce that much, but the Agent said very highly unlikely. Trial starts tomarrow at 830am with Felicia on the stand and more jailhouse tapes to listen to. The prosecution is supposed to rest their case tomarrow. Possibly in the morning.
This afternoon testimony continued with the detective on the stand. The detective just testified about what was already known. The prosecution rested their case and the defense started theirs. Before the defense started they tried to get the first degree charge and hate crime charge thrown out. The prosecution defended themselves and told the judge that there was enough reasonable doubt for the charge to stand. THE JUDGE AGREED!! The defense motion to get rid of the 1st degree murder charge and hate crime charge was denied. The defense then started with their witnesses which amounted to nothing. At one point there was a witness on the stand and she testified that her and Angie went to a club (trying to show she would pick up straight men). On cross examine by the prosecution they asked if the nights that her and Angie went there was LGBT night. She said yes and the prosecution asked no more questions. I heard a big sigh coming from the defense table after that. Anyway, the jury comes back tomarrow for closing arguments which are to be done by noon. Then the jury will get food delivered for lunch and will start deliberation. Meanwhile, the judge and the 2 sides are working on a 30 page instruction sheet for the jury. I will be back there at 8am and will keep you updated throughout the day as much as possible.
In case you have not heard Allen Andrade was found guilty of all counts including 1st degree murder and hate crime. He also was found guilty of auto theft, identity theft, and starting riots in the jail. The 1st degree murder has a mandatory life sentence with no parole and the others will give him another 60 years. Total is life +60. This case set president with the hate crime conviction on the murder of a transgender person. It was justice served, however we reached this point because of the taking of a precious life.
Today the jury was finally picked and we were allowed in the afternoon for the start of the trial. It was hard to see the defendant who admitted that he killed her. The defense attorneys are claiming that he "snapped" when he learned Angie was actually born male. The prosecution has evidence that Allen Andrade knew she was transgendered 36 hours before he killed her. There is even proof that he escorted her to court for a traffic ticket where Angie was called by her male name at that appearance. In the courtroom Shari and I were seated four rows back. The first two were media the third was for the defendants family and friends (that was weird) and in the fourth through sixth was for the public. For information on the trial go to GreeleyTribune.com and click on the live box for the twitter blog which gives a lot of information. ------Court TV In Session will start live feeds on TruTV starting in the morning. I have been interviewed by Beth Karas (the corespondent) and will be on and off during the trial. I do not know when they will air it and I am looking forward to seeing it. So keep watching! Will keep you all informed as much as I can. Winter storm coming through tonight through Saturday so I do not know if I will be able to get there tomorrow. All areas are expecting at least a foot of snow. GOD Bless!
Hello! I am at home and not at the courthouse due to a snowstorm. I am watching the case at home and it appeared to me today that the judge cleared the courtroom. The reason is that video and pictures that were taken from the crime scene and autopsy were private. As I watch this on tv I saw a poll where 70% believed that the agree with the hate crime additional charge. Most people leaving comments at the CNN.com/crime (also where you can find live streaming video of the trial) said that it is her fault if she did not tell him. However, the prosecutor says she is able to show that he knew 36hrs before he killed her. So those that believe he did not know about her transgender status may have to eat their words. CNN also did an on street interview with people on the street and asked them about the tolerence of transgender people in the US. Most said one of two things. Either that it depended where you live or that there is not enough tolerence by the general population toward transgender people. This is the latest and I will keep you all informed if there is any more interesting news.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I watched the afternoon session on the computer. Some of the Zapata family members testified today and two of them did exceptional. One of Angie's sisters (who is lesbian) kept throwing back to the defense attorney (who still have been calling Angie "Justin" and "him") my sister and Angie. She really did not answer a question until she made the defense attorney answer "yes" when she would say "you mean my sister Angie". I was applauding her effort. ----The oldest sister is the other one that I applauded. Since she was the one that found Angie it was hard for her to testify. Most of the time (90%) she was able to keep herself composed. The biggest part of her testimony was that she told Angie to be honest to other she meets about her birth gender. She also testified that she witnessed Angie telling people her true birth gender. This is a blow to the defense that he did not know. Why would Angie stop telling others when her older sister drilled it into her and warned her about how others might not accept her. These, I feel, were the highlights of the afternoon. -----Finally, it was brought out in court (before lunch break) that the police found a fire extinguisher alongside a road near Greeley. It is not known if this is the missing fire extinguisher that is the murder weapon that was missing from Angie's apartment. Will be at courthouse on Monday. Glad I did not go up north. We are getting anywhere from 2-3 inches per hour. Will update Monday sometime.
Hello everyone from Greeley, Colorado. The trial started this morning with testimony of a forensic investigator. The jury got to see more pics of Angie"s battered body. He testified that the injuries were from blunt trauma and that it was a homicide. He also testified that Angie had many fractured skull pieces on her right side along with bruising by the eyelid and eye. She also had bruising and bleeding just between the lid and the eyeball. The rest of the testimony concerned establishing the trail of receipts of the stolen debit card and also this morning was the court tape recording in which Angie was in court for her traffic citation and we heard the call JUSTIN ZAPATA on that recording. Just before lunch Angie(the former girlfriend of Andrede) was on the stand and is expected to go back on after lunch. THIS IS SOMETHING TO WATCH!!! She is very nervous and I have already caught her in some lies. She still has feelings for Andrede and I believe that they will be playing the jail recordings between him and her. This will be an interesting afternoon. Also, the Judge on lunch break will be reviewing transcripts from the web page Mocospace that the prosecution has obtained from that site. These are from Angie. The defense is trying to say that they are hearsay and should not be admissible. We will soon find out. Court starts at 130pm. Inform you all later.
This afternoon did prove to be interesting. Before I get to that I did forget to mention that the alleged murder weapon (the missing fire extinguisher) was brought into evidence. It was found alongside the highway two months after the murder occurred. The Mocospace text from Angie's site was not allowed into evidence. However, another ex-girlfriend of Andrede was on the stand. Her name is Felicia. She was also on recorded tapes from conversations with Andrede from jail. There are three interesting points to her testimony and tapes so far. First, she testified that Andrede when angry snaps. This would be bad except the way she said it sounded to me like it was rehearsed. After all, he spent two weeks with her after killing Angie and was the girlfriend he gave two of Angie's purses to. Second, in the taped conversation she mentions that Andrede was on the Mocospace in the BI-SEXUAL area. Also, she asked Andrede if she had to be tested for anything (referring to STD's) and he replied that nothing ever got that far. He had claimed to have had oral sex with Angie.The agent with the Cime Lab who did DNA testing on some evidence came up with (what I believe) is a significant finding. The police sent to the lab a pink vibrator and it had a significant amount of DNA on it that belonged to Andrede. To give you some information the Agent testified that the only way to get that much DNA on the vibrator was by semen, vaginal secretions, or through anal penetration. The defense tried to say that maybe sweat on the hands could produce that much, but the Agent said very highly unlikely. Trial starts tomarrow at 830am with Felicia on the stand and more jailhouse tapes to listen to. The prosecution is supposed to rest their case tomarrow. Possibly in the morning.
This afternoon testimony continued with the detective on the stand. The detective just testified about what was already known. The prosecution rested their case and the defense started theirs. Before the defense started they tried to get the first degree charge and hate crime charge thrown out. The prosecution defended themselves and told the judge that there was enough reasonable doubt for the charge to stand. THE JUDGE AGREED!! The defense motion to get rid of the 1st degree murder charge and hate crime charge was denied. The defense then started with their witnesses which amounted to nothing. At one point there was a witness on the stand and she testified that her and Angie went to a club (trying to show she would pick up straight men). On cross examine by the prosecution they asked if the nights that her and Angie went there was LGBT night. She said yes and the prosecution asked no more questions. I heard a big sigh coming from the defense table after that. Anyway, the jury comes back tomarrow for closing arguments which are to be done by noon. Then the jury will get food delivered for lunch and will start deliberation. Meanwhile, the judge and the 2 sides are working on a 30 page instruction sheet for the jury. I will be back there at 8am and will keep you updated throughout the day as much as possible.
In case you have not heard Allen Andrade was found guilty of all counts including 1st degree murder and hate crime. He also was found guilty of auto theft, identity theft, and starting riots in the jail. The 1st degree murder has a mandatory life sentence with no parole and the others will give him another 60 years. Total is life +60. This case set president with the hate crime conviction on the murder of a transgender person. It was justice served, however we reached this point because of the taking of a precious life.