Cook County Jury Acquits Man On 'Gay Panic' Defense

Written by Kara Spak Tuesday, 14 July 2009 06:16

He stabbed man 61 times, but acquitted of murder

Joseph Biedermann fatally stabbed his Hoffman Estates neighbor 61 times last year.

On Friday, a Cook County jury acquitted him of first-degree murder, buying his claim that he was defending himself against an unwanted sexual advance, his mother confirmed Saturday.

Biedermann, 30, killed Terrance Michael Hauser, 38, early on March 5, 2008, in the Barrington Lakes apartment complex on Hassell Road, where they lived in separate units.

Police recovered a 7-inch dagger from the scene, Hoffman Estates police said after Biedermann's arrest.

During last week's trial in the Rolling Meadows branch of Cook County Circuit Court, Biedermann's attorney, Sam Adam Jr., claimed that Hauser threatened Biedermann, which forced Biedermann to use the dagger to defend himself, according to a published report. Both men were drunk.

 

 

Adam successfully represented R&B singer R. Kelly in his 2008 trial on child pornography charges. He is ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's defense attorney.

Read the original article in the Chicago Sun Times 

Read Pam Spaulding's take from Pam's House Blend:

There is no other conclusion you can come to after reading the story the jury bought when Joseph Biedermann testified:

Biedermann said [victim Terrance Michael] Hauser invited him to his apartment for drinks after the bartender refused to serve Biedermann. Biedermann, who admitted he is an alcoholic, claims he passed out on Hauser's couch, only to be awakened later by Hauser threatening him and holding a 4-foot-long sword to his neck.

Biedermann testified Hauser threatened to kill Biedermann if he screamed, which Biedermann said he initially took as a joke. But according to Biedermann, Hauser then replied, "You understand me?" "At that point I knew he was serious," Biedermann said. "I was in big trouble."

Biedermann said Hauser threatened to sexually assault him, then held him around the neck and tried to stab him in the stomach with another weapon, an 16-inch dagger. Biedermann testified he escaped Hauser's grasp, gained control of the weapon and stabbed Hauser as many times as he could. There were no witnesses.

Um, he stabbed him 61 times. Do you think that was a bit of overkill? And this is the second time this year a defendant floated this defense. Back in March, Timothy Bailey-Woodson claimed 53-year-old David G. Coungeris made a move on him (they were sleeping in the same bed):

 

Timothy Bailey-Woodson, 23, is accused of beating to death 53-year-old David G. Coungeris with some type of auto part during an altercation at High Tech Auto & Truck Repair at 250 S. Gary Ave. in Bloomingdale, according to DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett.

...Bailey-Woodson told investigators that he and Coungeris were sleeping in a bed at the shop early Thursday morning when Coungeris "made sexual advances" toward him, Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Anne Therieau said. Bailey-Woodson told investigators he then left the bed, got dressed, put on gloves, picked up a "mechanical implement" and beat Coungeris in the head some 25 times.

"He told detectives he beat the victim until his arm was tired," Therieau reported to Ostling. "He also told them he'd do it again if the opportunity presented itself."

Oh, and the trauma of it all then caused Bailey-Woodson to leave the scene, stealing money from the cash register and tried to take a car that was parked in the shop.

When will this horror end?