Bernina Mata’s Homophobic Persecution and Death Sentence
To distract from significant evidence of sexual assault and wealth of mitigating circumstnaces belying that Bernina planned to kill John Draheim, the State masterfully depicted Bernina as “hard core”, man-hating lesbian, driven by an unquenchable thirst to kill men. The prosecution also tapped into the criminalizing racial archetype that frames Latinas as hot-tempered, irrational, and prone to “hysterical” violence.
The state asserted that:
“she was infuriated by [Draheim’s] conduct because she is a lesbian or she is primarily a lesbian, and we would prove that for her - - because she was offended by his behavior, that is this - - trying to say this nicely - - trying to date her or whatnot….”
A prosecutor also argued that:
“[a] normal heterosexual person” would not have engaged in such violence.
The State then admitted an avalanche of irrelevant evidence regarding Bernina’s sexual identity to the jury, including removing three books from her home - - “The Lesbian Reader,” “Call Me Lesbian” and “Homosexuality” - to show to the jury to prove she was a lesbian.
This potent brew of toxic stereotypes was presented to jurors in a shameless appeal to their racist and sexist biases. The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 1998 that potential jurors were “more than three times as likely to think they could not be fair or impartial toward a gay or lesbian defendant as toward a defendant from other minority groups.”
At the time of Bernina’s trial, it should have been illegal and morally intolerable for the State to argue Bernina killed Draheim becuase of her lesbian sexual identity. Since the trial in 1999, the State of Illinois and counties throughout our State have come a long way to to prevent and deter discrimination against LGBTQ people. However, we cannot forget the injustices of the past; clemency is an essential tool Governor Pritzker can use to right this wrong.
The state asserted that:
“she was infuriated by [Draheim’s] conduct because she is a lesbian or she is primarily a lesbian, and we would prove that for her - - because she was offended by his behavior, that is this - - trying to say this nicely - - trying to date her or whatnot….”
A prosecutor also argued that:
“[a] normal heterosexual person” would not have engaged in such violence.
The State then admitted an avalanche of irrelevant evidence regarding Bernina’s sexual identity to the jury, including removing three books from her home - - “The Lesbian Reader,” “Call Me Lesbian” and “Homosexuality” - to show to the jury to prove she was a lesbian.
This potent brew of toxic stereotypes was presented to jurors in a shameless appeal to their racist and sexist biases. The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 1998 that potential jurors were “more than three times as likely to think they could not be fair or impartial toward a gay or lesbian defendant as toward a defendant from other minority groups.”
At the time of Bernina’s trial, it should have been illegal and morally intolerable for the State to argue Bernina killed Draheim becuase of her lesbian sexual identity. Since the trial in 1999, the State of Illinois and counties throughout our State have come a long way to to prevent and deter discrimination against LGBTQ people. However, we cannot forget the injustices of the past; clemency is an essential tool Governor Pritzker can use to right this wrong.
