The "Gay Panic" defense is Alive and Well

March 1, 2005 Update - 20 Years In Kentucky Gay Slaying

A Kentucky man who murdered and stuffed the body of a gay man into a suitcase before tossing it into a lake was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years behind bars.

Joshua Cottrell, 23, had confessed to the killing but claimed it was the result of gay rage after Richie Phillips, 36, "came on to him" in Cottrell's motel room.

The suitcase containing Phillip's body was found floating in Rough River Lake last June by two fishermen.

Earlier this month a jury found Cottrell guilty of manslaughter not murder as the prosecution had sought. (story)

The jury recommended that Cottrell be sentenced to 30 years in prison - 20 for the manslaughter conviction and another 10 for theft and evidence tampering, but state law limited Hardin County Circuit Judge Kelly Easton to sentencing Cottrell to a maximum of 20 years on the convictions.

Throughout the trial Cottrell's defense painted the accused as being the real victim in the case.

The “gay panic” defense is alive and well, at least in Kentucky. I first wrote about this murder case in August, 2003. At the time, I think everyone felt that it was an open and shut case and that Josh Cottrell (pictured left), the man charged with the murder would be convicted of first degree murder. Cottrell was charged in the murder of Guinn Phillips (pictured right). After the murder, Cottrell stuffed Phillips’ body into a suitcase and threw it into Rough River Lake.

However, justice is slow or non-existent in Kentucky it seems. Cottrell was convicted on a much lessor charge of second-degree manslaughter, a conviction that will earn him up to five years in prison.

In 2005, the “gay panic” defense is still alive and well. It’s amazing that someone can literally get away with murder if they panic because a gay man makes a pass at them. I’ve had women make passes at me also. Should I kill them because their passes were “unwanted”?

The logic of this is ludicrous.

“This is a disappointing and a disturbing verdict,” said Andrea Hildebran, executive director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance.

“Bias against gay people not only ended the life of Richie Phillips, it has done violence to the Kentucky system of justice,” Hildebran said. [...]

During the trial, Drabenstadt said Phillips, 36, tried to force Cottrell to kiss him and attempted to shove Cottrell’s head into his crotch.

The attorney said Cottrell struck out in an act of “self-preservation,” and said Kentucky law allows use of deadly force under threat of rape or sodomy. Cottrell testified he killed Phillips but claimed it was in self-defense.

Hildebran said the defense used a “gay panic” argument, referring to a sometimes violent reaction to homosexual advances. The issue of “gay panic” surrounded the high-profile case of Matthew Shephard, who was murdered seven years ago in Wyoming. The defense was not allowed in that case.

Prosecutors claimed Cottrell was angry toward gays and planned Phillips’ murder. Drabenstadt countered that claim by saying Cottrell had no such feelings toward homosexuals.

“Richie Phillips’ side of the story is missing because he was murdered,” Hildebran said. Cottrell’s lawyer hoped to create sympathy in jurors prejudiced against gays, she said. (source)

Cottrell, who was 21 at the time of Phillips’ death, told jurors last week that he killed Phillips but insisted he did so in self-defense.

Defense attorney Scott Drabenstadt said that Cottrell was entitled under state law to fight back to protect himself from being raped or sodomized, using deadly force if necessary.

“This kid is not a killer,” Drabenstadt said in closing arguments. “This kid is not a robber. Yes, he did some very inappropriate things with the body. ... But what set it all in motion, he was privileged to do. What set it in motion were the actions of a 36-year-old man.”

Drabenstadt declined to comment until after the sentencing phase, which begins Wednesday morning. Cottrell’s family also declined to comment.

Shaw, the prosecutor, said in his closing statements that Cottrell harbored a “steaming anger” toward gay men and lured Phillips to his motel room to kill him.

Shaw said Cottrell’s “intent all along was to kill,” and dispose of the body in a “cold, calculated” scheme to “get away with murder.”

In the days after Phillips’ death, Cottrell was seen laughing, joking and partying by some of his relatives, Shaw said, seeking to counter the defense’s portrayal of Cottrell as scared and panicked.

Beth Wilson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said in a telephone interview after the verdict that she didn’t want to second guess the jury but added, “If the criminal justice system is being influenced by homophobia, then there’s a problem.” (source)