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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

August 26, 2011

www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

Wilson pleads guilty in Finegan murder, then retracts it

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-The man accused in the 1982 murder of Mary Ann Finegan and rape of her companion entered a guilty plea August 10 avoiding the possibility of a death sentence-only to file a motion days later seeking to withdraw the plea.

Richard A. Wilson was back in court on August 24, originally for sentencing on his guilty plea. That was changed to a hearing on how to proceed after he moved to withdraw the plea himself, without the aid of his attorneys.

Common Pleas Judge Brian Corrigan ordered new representation for Wilson, since his actions indicated a lack of faith in his attorneys, and set a hearing for September 23 on the motion to retract the guilty plea.

During two days of jury selection, a majority of potential jurors said that they were proponents of the death penalty. After the plea was entered, attorneys asked them whether they would have recommended it in this case, were Wilson found guilty in a jury trial. Their responses showed it was likely that he would have been sentenced to death.

Mary Ann Finegan

The plea agreement would have restricted sentencing to 1982 levels, which would have meant 30 years to life in prison for the 58-year-old, who faces 16 charges,

including two counts of aggravated murder, six of kidnapping, four of aggravated robbery, attempted rape, rape and two of attempted aggravated murder.

Wilson was due to be released from a prison near Pittsburgh last year when the Cleveland Police Cold Case Unit matched his DNA to evidence collected after Finegan and her former girlfriend were abducted and subjected to a night of horror. He was extradited to Ohio to face charges.

Finegan was sitting in her truck on a June night in 1982, talking to her ex-girlfriend near Isis, a popular lesbian bar at the time. When she went to pull the truck into a closer parking spot so the women could go to the bar, a man opened the passenger door, pointed a gun at her companion and told Finegan to drive or he would kill her.

He directed them to an isolated area of the industrial Flats near the Cuyahoga River, below Tremont. He told the women to get out of the truck and remove their pants, and they balked. He said he would count to three and then shot Finegan, killing her instantly. He then raped her friend, shot her and left her for dead. She refused to lose consciousness,

however, and was found 14 hours later by a security guard.

The Cleveland LGBT Center's hate crime reporting program was named for Finegan.

An extended report on the 1982 crime and the survivor's recollections of it is online at www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories 10/february/0226101.htm.

Richard Wilson

ICE moves away from deporting same-sex spouses

by Anthony Glassman

Washington, D.C.-Bi-national gay and lesbian couples in which one partner has overstayed their visa will no longer be a priority for Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an August 18 announcement by the Obama administration.

The new policy is aimed primarily at people who were brought to the United States by their parents as young children, many of whom did not know that they had never actually attained U.S. citizenship.

The policy mimics much of the effect of Sen. Dick Durbin's long-stalled Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. Many young immigrants go through high school oblivious to their legal status, only learning of it when they apply to college or for student financial aid.

Under the new policy, Secretary of

Cindy Yu

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until the end of the year.

"We've had a lot of meetings in the last week. We're still uncertain how long it's going to take, but I would not expect to have a new executive director before the first of the year," Sferra said. "We're working on priority items and going down the list."

"We're very happy with Cindy's talent," he pointed out. "She's really been the strong administrative side of the organization for a while now, so we're very confident in her

Homeland Security Janet Napolitano can aid illegal residents on a case-by-case basis. The administration's policy does not automatically grant amnesty, but will focus ICE and immigration court resources on the deportation of criminals and those believed to be a threat to national security.

According to the New York Times, the policy would help those with family members in the United States, including samesex spouses.

"The new policy will end, at least for now, the deportations of gay people legally married to their same-sex American citizen partners, and it may extend to other people in same-sex partnerships," mused New York attorney Richard Socarides, a Clinton administration LGBT advisor.

Opposite-sex spouses can sponsor their

work. We want to take our time."

"It's going to be a very thoughtful process and we're more focused on making sure that the center remains open, committed to our goals and the community, and keeping the programs and the services that the LGBT community relies on intact," he said, noting that board would likely target local talent more than conduct a national search. Yu echoed Sferra's priorities.

husband or wife for immigration, but the Defense of Marriage Act prevents samesex couples from doing that, even if they are legally married.

Under the new policy, the low-priority residents can apply to work in the United States and would probably get permission, according to the administration.

The administration, between Homeland Security and the Justice Department, will now have to review 300,000 current and pending deportation cases to determine which are high-priority, which are low-priority, and where relief should be given.

The policy change had an immediate effect for at least one same-sex couple. In California, Venezuelan Alex Benshimol was facing deportation proceedings because he overstayed his 1999 visa. He and his husband Doug Gentry married

"During my term as the interim director, I will make sure the center is here for the LGBT community," she said. "It is important to have all our programs and services intact, to keep in touch with other LGBT groups and organizations, to maintain relationships with donors, and more importantly, to keep the center's finances in check. Therefore, when we have the permanent executive director, he or she will have the

last year in Connecticut.

In another case in California, just before the administration indicated the change, an immigration judge a few days earlier had dismissed deportation proceedings against Raul Sinense, a Filipino who lives in Oakland with his spouse, Peter Gee.

The new policy may be used to allow Anthony John Makk, an Australian, to remain with his husband, Bradford Wells. The couple live in San Francisco, and Makk is Wells' primary caregiver. Makk was ordered to leave the country by August 25 after immigration officials cited the Defense of Marriage Act as the reason he could not use a spousal petition to seek permanent residency in the country.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi has contacted ICE on the couple's behalf, but no response has come yet.

financial stability to lead the organization to a higher level."

Yu, who is also the treasurer of Asians and Friends-Cleveland, said that she plans on throwing her hat in the ring for the permanent position. However, whatever choice is ultimately made by the board, she notes, "It is my honor to have this opportunity to serve the LGBT community in Cleveland.

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