What are your thoughts on making punishments less severe for those who kill gays who allegedly come on to them?
James Miller will serve 10 years probation after being sentenced for criminally negligent homicide for killing his neighbor in east Austin in 2015.
The jury recommended Miller serve 10 years probation and the judge was required to honor that.
However, Judge Brad Urrutia also added a maximum allowed six months jail time, also requiring Miller to complete 100 hours of community service, pay nearly $11,000 in restitution to the victim's family and use a portable alcohol monitoring device for at least a year.
The defense argued Miller stabbed his neighbor when Spencer allegedly came on to him. The prosecution argued blood evidence didn't match Miller's story. However, Foye says the jury did its best with a hard trial.
We were disappointed with the verdict yesterday, when he was convicted of criminally negligent homicide," Baird said. "We thought that he should have been acquitted on the basis of self-defense."
Miller's defense is also known as the "gay panic defense." While it's a rare defense, it is legal in most states. NBC News reports it's been used in about half of all the states with some success as part of an insanity or self-defense claim.
There is a push to ban the defense in several states, including Texas. In December, Illinois became the second state to ban it. California banned it in 2014 after the American Bar Association called on states to eliminate it.
