The Gits Movie will premier on Saturday May 28 at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) at the beautiful Egyptian Theater on Capitol Hill. There will be a second screening on Monday May 30. In August, The Gits Movie will screen at the "Don't Knock the Rock" music and alternative culture festival in Los Angeles.

It's hard to believe that we began work on the documentary about The Gits nearly three years ago. That was long before the detectives ever made the DNA match to the psychopath who killed Mia. During the course of making the film, the man was arrested, brought to trial in Seattle, convicted of First Degree Murder and sentenced to 36 and a third years in State Prison. It became difficult to finish the film as our story kept unfolding before us. The film is about the music, us as individuals, and our community in the time of a crises. It is not a rock and roll movie, an obituary or a glamorous murder mystery.

We are looking for volunteers to help us with the film premier in Seattle. Send us an email (volunteer [AT] thegits [dot] com) to help with postering, publicity, parties and events.

Thanks for all the letters and emails of support.

Yours, Steve Moriarty

The sentencing for the man convicted of killing Mia took place last Friday. The standard sentencing range for 1st degree murder in Washington can be as few as fifteen years. We walked into the courtroom determined to convince Judge Armstrong that this was not enough.

The defense attorneys put a beard on him to make him look more feeble for the big day. I guess it was all part of their clever "Pigpen defense". The room was packed with Mia's friends and family from around the country.

A woman cried out in anguish and burst into tears when Mesquia entered the courtroom. I didn't know her. Several people cursed him and the police officers present positioned themselves to preempt any violence. A window in the 8th floor courtroom was over 200 feet straight down to 3rd Avenue pavement. This presented an escape route for Mezquia and I remembered the title of the first punk compilation album we put out, "Bobbing for Pavement."

Prosecutor Bradshaw created a huge poster of Mia and placed it on the wall staring down at the defendant and his team. It had an awesome visual impact. Several of Mia's friends and fans wrote impact letters to the judge to ask for the longest sentence. Mia's sister, Kristen Zapata and I read statements to Judge Armstrong in court. Andy Kessler sent a statement from Europe, where he was touring with Poison Idea, which Mr. Bradshaw read to the court. Kerri O'Kane and Jessy Bender prepared a 10 minute film about Mia's life, art and music. the defense tried to have all the personal statements and the film excluded from the proceedings to no avail.

The defense argued that Mezquia's other assaults were inadmissable because it was never established if he broke or simply bloodied his pregnant wife's nose. And after all, he didn't harm the fetus in the attack. Sentencing in Washington works on a points system and other felony convictions count as points against the defendant when it comes to sentencing. Like points against a drivers license... the more points the stiffer the penalty. Judge Armstrong agreed with the defense and disallowed the attack from being counted because the language to describe the crime in Florida, where it was committed, would not be language of a felony charge in Washington.

With the other felonies inadmissable in sentencing consideration, Bradshaw redirected his argument for an "exceptional sentence" of up to 41 years. Exceptional was the brutality of the attack and the horrible pain which Mia endured during her final living moments. In our personal pleas to the judge we spoke of how exceptional Mia was as a person and how we missed her. We wanted the judge to recognize that Mezquia would be a threat if ever released, that losing Mia was a crushing loss to family, friends and the world and that we wanted the strictest punishment possible.

Judge Armstrong made the final decision sooner than I thought. She stated that it was clear that Mia was an exceptional person and that the crime was exceptionally vicious. She was surprised that 11 years after Mia's death so many people showed up in support of the prosecution. She said that it seemed that Mia was still alive. That we kept her alive. She sentensed him to 440 months in prison, 36.66666 years. He'll be 86 or dead when he leaves Walla Walla. Maybe now Mia can have some peace and feel free to join that blues band with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.

Thanks to the King County prosecution team of Tim Bradshaw and Steve Fogg. the cold case detectives, and Judge Armstrong for doing the right thing.

For a more objective account of the day in court check out this article in the Seattle Times.

There will be a piece on CBS 48 Hours that will likely air May 15 and something else on Court TV.

The sentencing for Mesquia has been scheduled for Friday, April 30 at 2:00pm. It's at King County Superior Court, 4th and James. There will be "impact statements" from Mia's friends and family, which will hopefully have some influence on Judge Armstrong's sentencing. I think there is a broad range of years he can get... up to 35. It doesn't seem like enough time, but at 50 years old it is in effect a life sentence. This sentencing, like most superior court proceedings, is open to the public. I urge you to join us and let's show the Honorable Judge Armstrong just how much Mia meant to us. And let's show the scum Mesquia that he messed with the wrong woman, in the wrong band, in the wrong community!

Thanks to everyone who has sent email of congratulations to The Gits site. I can read them, but as a community we can share information and experiences with one another. So Web master Pete has posted a guest book/message board for anyone to sign or jot down a note. Communicate with each other this way and develop your own sense of world community around your interest in The Gits, Mia and Social Justice.

I would also like to send a list of condolences to Mia's family. It was not easy to re-visit this tragedy. If you have one, express it here and I will pass it along.

We are discontinuing the shirts and sweatshirts, so order them now if you ever wanted one. The best place to get our CD's is at your local independent CD store. If they don't have it, order it. To buy the "Frenching the Bully" and "Enter: The Conquering Chicken" re-issues with bonus tracks, or any of the other albums directly from us, go to www.CDBaby.com. They are a quick and inexpensive way to order online with a credit card.

CBS 48 Hours is doing a piece on The Gits and the case in the near future; as is Court TV/"I, Detective". Check their web sites for programming information. I don't have a TV so tape it for me if you remember.

Jessy and Kerri are blazing away at The Gits Movie. They keep getting new archival footage and photos and are tweaking and adding to the film all the time. It will be a great and lasting tribute to Mia and our band. I don't think they have a release date yet.

Finally, and perhaps most important, the sentencing for "Bitchface" is tentatively scheduled for mid May. We would like to have as many friends and fans as possible show up to show the judge that this man needs to spend the rest of his malevolent life in prison. I'll post the date as soon as it is confirmed by Judge Armstrong.

There is now a guestbook available. Sentencing information will be posted soon.

Guilty of 1st degree murder.

Still no verdict. The jurors are stone faced as they leave for the day.

The jury is still out.

On Thursday the judge decided to give the defense the weekend to get their defense strategy straightened out. Their arguments were weak and since a new witness (a brave woman who escaped Mesquia in Seattle in '93) appeared for the prosecution, the defense chose to bargain away their main witness in exchange for the exclusion of the new witness. Very frustrating... it seemed the defense was getting all the breaks.

The judge wanted the defense to be thorough, and when we thought about it, we agreed that the defense should have every opportunity so that an appeal will be difficult to argue.

The trial resumed today. This morning the two sides presented their closing arguments to the jury. The jury were given instructions by the judge and informed about the legal definitions of 1st degree murder and premeditation. A rape was involved so the crime automatically meets criteria for 1st degree. Also, the sheer severity of Mia's injuries and the fact that it could have taken anywhere between 3 and 15 minutes to strangle her to death also meets criteria for premeditation. The judge explained to the jury that they had to find Mesquia guilty beyond a "reasonable doubt" and that meant there had to be real evidence to establish a "doubt" and that conjecture and hearsay did not count.

The defense tried to spin a tale of floating DNA molecules and incompetent medics at the scene who allowed interns to rescue Mia from death. They showed a photo of an ungloved hand on Mia's body and the sheet used to cover her body on the grass beside her. These photos alone supposedly proved a botched investigation and corruption of all the evidence. The defense also attacked the credibility of the scientists who analyzed the DNA samples. The second DNA expert witness was a Harvard PhD who had researched DNA since its discovery as the building blocks of life. He now works for a private firm using DNA to research cures for disease. The attorney tried to discredit his expertise and calculations. Lame.

The defense then made some reference to Pigpen from the Peanuts comic strip to show the jury just how random DNA can spread throughout the population and land on the lacerated nipples of unsuspecting singers.

They made thinly veiled character assassinations of Mia, her life and her friends. She was drinking and therefore partially responsible; her friends were not credible witnesses because we hung out at "sweaty rock clubs" and could not remember exactly what we said to police in 1993. Worst of all they said that this was merely a "sex crime" and that Mia may very well have been drunk and allowed consensual sex with Mesquia to get out of hand. Yeah... so consensual that her clothes were ripped apart. So consensual that her internal organs burst open by the force of the attacker. So consensual that it took three attempts to strangle her to death because she was fighting so hard. So consensual that the blood vessels in her eyes, nose and mouth exploded. So consensual that her nipples were bitten depositing the saliva containing DNA of Jesus C. Mesquia to be swabbed by the medical examiner and placed in evidence for nearly ten years.

Steve Fogg presented the case for the state and was eloquent and composed in his presentation of the evidence. Mesquia was placed in Seattle, at the scene and on Mia's body. He has many prior arrests for kidnapping, assault and robberies but somehow remained free to one day kill Mia.

The King County prosecutors, Steve Fogg and Tim Bradshaw have been involved and helpful in solving this case since day one. There is a picture of Mia on their office wall and Fogg referred to Mia's version of "A Change Has Got to Come" in his opening and closing statements to the jury. I believe that the prosecution has soundly crushed the defense and that Mesquia will go to prison at last. Today at 2:00pm the jury began deliberating and weighing the evidence against Mesquia.

By 4:00pm today they had not reached a verdict. They will continue deliberations tomorrow.

More soon...

Some remarkable developments in court today have left the defense attorneys speechless, hence the final arguments are tomorrow the 18th and the thing could be settled by end of day Thursday or Friday. Much sooner than anyone anticipated. A women came forward to the prosecution to say that she had been attacked by Mesquia in a park around the time Mia was killed. So the defense's plan of presenting a second suspect was derailed through a bargain with the judge. Anyway it’s a crushing blow to the defense!

More soon.

Today the prosecution called a third expert witness to validate the work of the forensic scientist who originally extracted the DNA from samples taken from Mia's body. Their argument for the purity and admissibility of the DNA samples was scientifically water-tight. The defense could only try to poke holes in the exactness of their statements given on reports compared with those given in court.

The samples collected showed only two strains of DNA on Mia's body: Her own and that of Mesquia. The sample of saliva was from swabs taken from her breasts from wounds that "resembled" teeth marks.

Tim Bradshaw and Steve Fogg, the prosecuting attorneys, also called the cold case detectives from Seattle who reopened Mia's case and later went to Marathon Key, Florida to question and ultimately arrest Mesquia. Of course, the defense tried to say that he wasn't properly read his Miranda rights in Spanish.

Prosecution called several witnesses to attest to Mesquia's mastery of the English language including a former girlfriend and room-mate. Ironically, Mesquia has had two lovely Spanish interpretors translating all the court proceedings over a head-set. The poor victimized Cuban immigrant, exiled from his prison home in Cuba by the evil Fidel Castro and sent all alone to America on a very hot raft...just to take the piss out of an American president for a silly little embargo. All these 20 years in the US working, attacking women and killing people and he never had the chance to take English classes. Its rumored that he in fact is fluent in three languages.

The defense now will call up to 10 witnesses to the stand to try to clear their client of these outrageous allegations. They are due to wind up by the end of the week, so the final arguments could be as early as this Tuesday.

The Prosecution called witnesses all week. A DNA expert testified Wed. to the validity of the sample taken from Mia's skin. Her injuries and last moments on earth were described in graphic detail by the Medical Examiner and the EMT's and paramedics from the scene. The Defense tries to poke holes in the DNA evidence but were boring and, in my opinion, ineffectual.

The Prosecution will rest our case on Monday and then the Defense gets to call witnesses and defend their client. They have asked to call 10 witnesses. Who knows what lame absurdities they will conjure. Again, anyone is invited to attend in support of Mia and her family. Wear your hoodie.

The Prosecution and Defense presented their opening arguments today. Mia's dad and sister took the stand as well as the paramedic and EMT who attended to Mia's last moment on this earth. Thank you for attending if you did. The courtroom was full of friends and supporters and it made a strong impression on the jury; 5 men, 7 women I think. Now I am making a call for anyone to come join us at the courtroom to show support.

The defense team are public defenders and seem to want to bring Mia's character into question. Her character is beyond reproach and I feel their arguments will be in vain.

The Courtroom has been moved to W-817 beginning Monday which will start with opening statements. Court starts at 9:00, breaks at noon, resumes at 1:30pm. All are welcome to sit in.

Judge Sharon Armstrong has ruled that the D.N.A. evidence against Mesquia was obtained legally in Florida and Washington and therefore is admissible in the case. Mia's diary is not admissible nor are references to her romantic life. Jury selection continues today and this Monday, the two sides will begin arguments.

Trial Location Update: The courtroom is E-835, Judge Armstrong. Jury selection will be Wed and Thursday 3/2 and 3/3. The cases will likely be presented Thursday afternoon or Monday. Monday, March 8th should be a good day to sit in on the trial.

The heartless bastard who killed Mia will go on trial Monday March 1st. There will be a couple of days of pre-trial motions, then they will start selecting from a pool of jurors on about March 3rd. The trial is open to the public and will be taking place in King County Superior Court. I don't know exactly in which court room it will take place. Ask at the information desk. The court house is in a complex of buildings on James St. between 4th and 5th. but I can't tell you exactly where. I suggest looking it up in the phone book. I will try to post more specific locations soon.

I feel like it is important to show the judge and jury just how much Mia meant to us. The prosecutors and I welcome anyone to come down and sit in on the proceedings; especially on March 3rd and forward. Note that there is no court on Friday. The trial may take anywhere from three to six weeks. After 11 years of waiting for this moment it is hard to believe some semblance of justice MAY be achieved. Let's hope so!

Please refrain from contacting the prosecutors so that they can focus on the task at hand. We will post periodic updates on the trial thoughout the coming weeks.

On Monday, July 7th, 2003 The Gits were featured on NPR's Morning Edition nationwide. The full transcript is available online at NPR.com, you can listen to the audio program here.