Fourth Circuit denies new trial in trans woman’s slaying

CHARLESTON, S.C. (CN) — The Fourth Circuit rejected a South Carolina man’s request for a new trial in the killing of a transgender woman in 2019.

U.S. Circuit Judge Julius N. Richardson, a Donald Trump appointee, writes in a 16-page opinion filed Wednesday that the appellate court deferred to the decisions of the judge and jury that tried and convicted Daqua Lameek Ritter for the murder of Dime Doe, a transgender woman from Allendale.

“Appellate courts review; they do not retry,” Richardson wrote.

Ritter was sentenced in 2024 to life in prison after he was found guilty of fatally shooting Doe, a local hairdresser with whom Ritter was rumored to be romantically involved.

Federal officials had previously prosecuted hate crimes based on gender identity, but Ritter’s case was the first one in the country to make it to trial.

Ritter argues rumors about his relationship with Doe swirled in the small town of Allendale. After she was found shot to death on a rural road, those rumors coalesced into a false narrative pinning him as the gunman.

Ritter admitted he was in the car with Doe about two and a half hours before she was found dead. An officer who conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle said it did not seem like anything was wrong between them.

Ritter’s DNA was found on the passenger door handles of Doe’s car, but he was excluded as a contributor to DNA found on cartridge casings in the car, on the driver’s seat and under the victim’s fingernails.

Ritter’s attorney argued at a hearing in December that two witnesses provided inadmissible testimony during the trial.

Kerria Mallory, a former girlfriend of Ritter’s uncle, who lived down the road from the scene of the shooting, testified Ritter appeared at the house that evening and got a ride back to Allendale from his uncle. Over the defense’s objection, Mallory added the uncle told her he heard Ritter killed Doe.

Later, a federal agent involved in Ritter’s arrest mentioned the defendant’s criminal record to the jury.

The trial judge told the jury to disregard Mallory’s hearsay statement, but waited until after a lunch break to do so, which left the information lingering in the jurors’ minds for several hours, Ritter’s attorney said.

Richardson writes in the panel’s opinion that the jury is presumed to follow a curative instruction, except when the evidence is “uniquely prejudicial.”

In this case, the defense attorney and prosecutors both impeached Mallory for the statement, which conflicted with her sworn grand jury testimony, and the statement was not so vivid it could not be cured with an instruction from the judge, according to Richardson.

Ritter also challenged the trial judge’s decision to seat a transgender juror.

Dee Elder, a transgender woman from Aiken and former Democratic candidate for state Senate, served as the foreperson for Ritter’s trial and conducted an interview with The Associated Press after it ended.

The trial judge held an evidentiary hearing in response to Elder’s statements and determined she did not violate her oath of impartiality by talking to the press.

Richardson writes the panel would not second-guess a trial judge’s decision except where there is manifest error, which did not exist in this case.

Richardson notes in the opinion there is “textual ambiguity” in the hate crime statute used to prosecute Ritter. The statute fails to define the phrase “gender-related characteristics” or clearly explain what proof is required to prosecute someone for the offense.

Nonetheless, the appellate court found there was sufficient evidence to lead a rational juror to conclude that Ritter killed Doe because of her perceived gender-related characteristics.

“Whereas Ritter was open about his prior relationships with biological females, he was secretive about his relationship with Doe,” Richardson writes. “And Ritter expressed anger with Doe when Doe wasn’t sufficiently discreet. From this evidence, a reasonable juror could conclude that Ritter wouldn’t have killed Doe ‘but for’ the fact that Doe was a biological male.”

U.S. Circuit Judges Pamela A. Harris, a Barack Obama appointee, and Robert B. King, a Bill Clinton appointee, joined in the opinion.

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