SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) – A murder conviction shouldn’t be reduced to manslaughter just because the victim allegedly provoked rage by insinuating the killer was gay, an appeals court ruled.

Abimael Najera repeatedly stabbed Victor Hernandez in 2003 after the two had been drinking beers and joking around. A fight ensued when Hernandez insulted Najera.

An Orange County jury convicted Najera of second-degree murder, but Najera’s lawyer Paul Ward argued on appeal that the jury should have been instructed to consider voluntary manslaughter.

Ward said insinuating homosexuality could be enough to provoke a fatal fight.

But the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled there has to be much more to provoke the defendant to act in the heat of the moment to justify the lesser charge.

“What was the provocative conduct in this?” Justice Richard D. Fybel wrote of the name-calling that supposedly preceded the knifing attack. “That taunt would not drive any ordinary person to act rashly or without due deliberation and reflection.”

The three-judge panel said the lesser charge applies when the killing is without malice and a result of “a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.”

MONTROSE, Colo. (AP) – One of two suspects charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of an openly gay man, which sparked fears the man was targeted because of his sexual orientation, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Adam Hernandez, 21, entered his plea to manslaughter and felony theft in Montrose District Court, The Denver Post reported. Hernandez and 24-year-old Jason Fiske were charged in the death of Kevin Hale, who had told police he had been threatened because he was gay.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop other charges, including first-degree murder, a conviction which carries a mandatory life sentence.

As part of the plea, Hernandez will serve no more than eight years in prison and could be sentenced to probation, the Post reported.

Hernandez, Fiske and Hale had been at a pub, and Hernandez told investigators he wanted to beat up Hale because Hale had made sexual advances toward him. Hale’s body was found in a Montrose park July 31.

Hernandez will be sentenced May 24.

Fiske is scheduled to enter a plea on April 26.

The day after the slaying, Fiske told police he placed Hale in a choke hold while breaking up a fight between Hale and Hernandez. The arrest affidavit said that Fiske told police he thought Hale was unconscious when they left him in the park.

An autopsy showed Hale died of strangulation. It also showed that he was on epilepsy medication and had methamphetamine in his system.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A Connecticut legislative committee failed to act this year on a bill that would have required Connecticut to recognize same-sex marriages from Massachusetts and countries such as Canada.

Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven and co-chair of the committee, said he may still bring up the bill for a vote. But even if it passes, he said it won’t change the impact of the recent Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that couples living in states where same-sex marriage is prohibited can’t get married in the Bay State.

Connecticut’s civil union law gives same-sex couples in the state the same rights as heterosexual married couples but defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

“In a sort of roundabout way, it is relevant to Connecticut, because at the end of the day, any levelheaded person thinks this is all crazy,” Lawlor said. “If you’re a lawfully married same-sex couple from Massachusetts and you get in an accident or whatever, why should Connecticut treat you as strangers? We’re trying to deal with that problem.”

Lawlor said recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages makes sense because Connecticut recognizes common-law marriages from other states even though there is no such arrangement in Connecticut.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal ruled in September that Connecticut would not recognize same-sex marriages from Massachusetts, but would recognize civil unions from Vermont and domestic partnerships from California.

Because Connecticut doesn’t recognizes same-sex marriage, married couples from Massachusetts are eligible for civil unions.

The bill would give married same-sex couples from Massachusetts the same rights as couples who have had civil unions in Connecticut, including the right to dissolve their partnerships.

“There’s an obvious, simple solution,” Lawlor said. “Just call them all marriages and get it over with.”

ST. PAUL (AP) – The Senate Judiciary Committee last week turned aside a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and its legal equivalents in Minnesota.

The committee didn’t directly reject the proposed amendment that has been such an emotional issue in recent years. Instead, it rejected a reworked version of the amendment. The new version would have prohibited the judicial branch from having jurisdiction over defining marriage – stipulating that the Legislature has the power.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – New York tax officials said same-sex couples who marry outside the state cannot file joint returns, according to Lambda Legal.

The gay rights group had asked for clarification from the state Department of Taxation and Finance on behalf of a same-sex couple from New York who wed in Canada. Lambda said the agency informed it that since the same-sex partnership is not a marriage for federal income tax purposes, it cannot be for state income tax purposes.

The tax agency’s conclusion is consistent with statements from New York’s top officials, who have said same-sex marriage is illegal. But Lambda criticized it as unfair to same-sex couples.

“The department’s decision is shortsighted for a number of reasons, including the fact that some married same-sex couples would shoulder a heavier financial obligation to the state if their marital status were recognized for tax purposes,” said Lambda attorney Alphonso David.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – After months of silence, Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller has explained his decision to pull Brokeback Mountain from one of his movie theaters.

He took the action because he was worried about the breakup of the traditional American family, he told KTVX-TV in an interview.

“Getting away from the traditional families, which I look at as the fundamental building block of our society, is a very dangerous thing,” he said.

In January, Miller canceled showing the R-rated Western gay romance story at the Megaplex at Jordan Commons in Sandy. That had been the only one of his theaters that had been scheduled to show the movie, but it was shown at other theaters in the area.

Miller’s decision on Jan. 5 came just two hours after he was told about the movie’s subject matter by a KCPW-FM reporter.

During the KCPW interview, he said booking a movie like Brokeback Mountain was a business decision. “It’s something that I have to let the market speak to some degree,” he said. “I don’t think I’m qualified to be the community censor.”

Miller drew both support and criticism within Utah. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Utah has urged people to avoid Miller’s businesses.

Miller said many Utahans responded by buying cars from him.

“I had 12 people call and say I bought a car from you today, ‘because,’ and then 27 the next day and then 12 the third day,” Miller told KTVX.

Miller said he stands by his decision to pull the movie.

“I clearly hurt some individuals’ feelings, and for that I regret it. But I don’t think it should change my opinions and views,” he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Russ Feingold said last week that he supports giving gays and lesbians the right to marry, becoming the fourth U.S. senator to take that position, according to a gay-rights advocacy group.

Feingold, D-Wis., issued a statement saying he was asked about his views on the subject at a listening session with constituents in Kenosha, Wis.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said he decided to express his support for same-sex marriage now in response to what he called a “mean-spirited” Wisconsin constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, which will appear on the state ballot in November.

“I will be voting against the harsh amendment that’s been proposed in Wisconsin, and I thought it was an appropriate occasion to indicate my feeling that if two people care enough about each other to get married, that it probably is a positive thing for society,” he said.

Feingold, a potential presidential candidate, said presidential politics had nothing to do with his position.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, praised Feingold.

“This kind of statement is something we have been yearning for – at long last we have a fair-minded progressive leader taking an ethical and moral stance,” Foreman said. “No hair splitting, no waffling, no equivocating.”