SYRACUSE -- Judge William Walsh, who is presiding over the trial, addressed Dwight DeLee and said "there have been serious threats made to witnesses" and that one of the threats came from a member of DeLee's family. The judge said that this needs to stop or it will hurt DeLee's defense.

A female witness said she saw DeLee walk up to Green's car and hurt his say something about "fa****" and they (Lateisha Green and Mark Cannon) "need to get out of here".

The witness then said that DeLee pointed the gun into the car and pulled the trigger. She was very emotional. Her statements in court differed from what she previously told police.

Another witness called and invited Moses Cannon (Latiesha Green) to the party. She was talking to them in the car outside the house and heard someone say "get these fa**** out of here". The witenss also said that someone in a hoodie came up behind her with a gun and put it into the car window. She heard a click and then the car sped away. She did not see the shooter's face but recognized the voice and hand as Dwight DeLee.

Court is in recess.

Updated 1:50 PM

Two people who were at a Syracuse house party when a transgendered woman was murdered say the man accused of the crime called the victim a "fa****."

But neither of those witnesses at Dwight DeLee's trial said they saw him fire the shot that killed 22-year-old Lateisha Green last November.

DeLee is being tried on a hate crime murder charge. Prosecutors say he killed Green because of anti-gay bias.

If convicted of a hate crime, DeLee would face additional prison time.

On Tuesday, two prosecution witnesses who told police they saw DeLee shoot Green recanted their statements. Green's brother, who was wounded in the same attack, identified DeLee as the gunman during testimony Monday.

The trial is continuing Wednesday afternoon.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Updated 12:20 PM

Witnesses have been called to the stand Wednesday in the hate crime murder trial of Dwight DeLee of Syracuse.

The police detective that originally questioned DeLee took the stand and testified that DeLee allegedly said everyone was out to get him and he was putting his faith in God. DeLee looked ‘defeated’ to the detective and kept repeating “its over… its over”. When the detective asked DeLee if he hated homosexuals, DeLee said “no”.

DeLee’s defense attorney countered that his client he was fatigued from the interrogation when he made those remarks.

A 19-year-old woman also took the stand and said that she lived near where the shooting took place. She said that she knew that Mark and Moses Cannon (the birth name of Lateisha Green) were gay and she didn't care.

Allison testified that a car pulled in front of the house. She said she was walking through the door when DeLee said “we don’t play that fa**** sh**”. She then heard a “popping sound” outside and then everyone panicked.

Witness testimony is scheduled to continue in the afternoon.

Original Story:

Testimony is continuing for a third day in the trial of a 20-year-old upstate New York man charged with the hate crime-murder of a transgendered woman.

Two prosecution witnesses who told police they saw an accused Dwight DeLee kill Lateisha Green recanted their statements on the witness stand Tuesday.

Siblings Johnny and Jasmine Gaston testified that investigators told them what to say about the shooting of the 22-year-old Green at a Syracuse house party last November.

Both gave signed statements to police identifying DeLee as the gunman. But on Tuesday, they insisted DeLee was involved and said someone else killed Green.

"They were telling me the story of what happened," said Johnny Gaston, who claimed he was coerced during eight hours of questioning.

Gaston and DeLee were friends who arrived at the party together. Jasmine Gaston is DeLee's girlfriend.

Perplexed prosecutors held several bench conferences with the judge as they questioned their two reluctant witnesses, who were among more than a dozen people who testified Tuesday at DeLee's hate crime murder trial in Onondaga County Court.

Earlier, another witness testified that she heard two men make disparaging remarks about gay people moments before a third man fired a single shot into the parked car in which Green was sitting.

But although she said she heard the two men using the word "fa****," Cassie Williams testified that she never heard the suspected gunman say anything.

Williams, 17, described the events surrounding the shooting but said she could not identifiy the killer, who wore a dark sweat shirt with the hood pulled over his head.

Mark Cannon, the victim's brother, testified Monday that DeLee was the person who fired the shot into the car. Cannon was wounded by the same bullet, which grazed his arm before hitting Green in the shoulder.

Medical Examiner Dr. Robert Stoppacher testified that the shot tore through Green's shoulder into her chest. The bullet passed through one lung, then her aorta, before lodging in the other lung, causing her to bleed to death.

Forensic experts also testified for the prosecution but they said they found no fingerprints on the rifle and could not conclusively link the gun to the bullet recovered from Green's body.

Prosecutors contend DeLee fatally shot Green because he thought she was gay. Born Moses Cannon, Green decided at age 16 to live as a woman, her family has said.

If DeLee is convicted of committing a hate crime murder, it would be only the second hate crime conviction involving the murder of a transgender person in the United States. Allen Andrade was convicted in May in Colorado of beating 18-year-old Angie Zapata to death with a fire extinguisher after discovering she was biologically male.

Under New York law, DeLee could face a minimum of 20 years to life in state prison if convicted of murder as a hate crime. Without the hate crime element, the minimum penalty is 15 years to life.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)