Hope this is OK to post Mod if not delete it.
Jim
Laughing jailhouse phone call gets woman tough sentence TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- A judge sentenced a woman to nearly the maximum prison term for negligent homicide after hearing a recorded jail conversation in which she made light of the bicyclist she killed. Melissa Arrington, 27, was convicted two months ago of negligent homicide and two counts of aggravated DUI in connection with the December 2006 death of Paul L'Ecuyer. She could have gotten as few as four years behind bars, but Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank sentenced her Tuesday to 10½ years -- one year shy of the maximum. Cruikshank said he found a telephone conversation between Arrington and an unknown male friend, a week after L'Ecuyer was killed, to be "breathtaking in its inhumanity." During the conversation, the man told Arrington that an acquaintance believed she should get a medal and a parade because she had "taken out" a "tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot." Arrington laughed. When the man said he knew it was a terrible thing to say, she responded, "No, it's not." Assistant Public Defender Michael Rosenbluth told the judge his client has never been "cold, callous or flippant" about L'Ecuyer's death and has always felt remorseful. Arrington said words couldn't express how she feels, and that once she's out of prison, she hopes to share her story with Mothers Against Drunk Driving. L'Ecuyer, 45, was riding his bike the night of December 1, 2006 when Arrington swerved off the road, hit him and then continued for 800 feet before stopping, according to Deputy Pima County Attorney Jonathan Mosher. Arrington's blood-alcohol content was .156 percent, nearly double Arizona's .08 legal limit. She had been driving on a suspended license for a prior
10 comments:
About time
You said it
I'm not sure what you say after you've killed somebody, but I know that ain't it.
Until people realize it's a person in front of them, and not just a bike or a car, the guilty party's attitude will survive.
throw away the key!
Watching CNN this morning I heard the actual audio tape. I'm disgusted.
here's the video online:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2008/01/24/hill.az.drunk.driver.laughs.sentence.cnn
and the written story:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/24/jail.laughter.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch
Sick. Just sick.
2 DWI's, driving drunk on a suspended license. I agree, throw away the key. At least now she has 10 1/2 years to think about her phone call. I would love to find out who the other person on the phone was. He deserves a beating.
Yeah, hearing that guy suggest that killing someone was deserving of a parade made me pretty sick. It's one thing to try to comfort someone who's in jail, it's another to be that callous.
I think back to my childhood, watching Bugs Bunny and Goofy cartoons. There was this particular episode that showed how driving transforms a person. It showed a mild mannered gentleman getting into a car and as the engine revved, he changed into a crazed madman. It seems so true.
Here's a quote that shows it's a fairly universal occurrence:
"Drivers in America and Australia just have attitudes. I don't necessarily say attitudes towards cyclists, but towards other road users. People just don't realize the danger they're causing other people." -- Cadel Evans, 2007 ProTour champion, admitting that training on the road has its unsettling moments.
I too found that Cadel Evans quote to be especially poignant, and this whole Arrington case to be just disturbing. It's unfortunate that somehow we're less human because we're on bikes, or environmentalists, or French, or gay, or in any way different. Terrible. Such an ignorant perspective. I hope everyone who reads about this case learns from the lesson it offers.
...but sadly I'm getting too old and too pessimistic to believe that will actually happen. But I guess the fact that this cold killer is going to prison for ten years for killing an innocent cyclist is cause for hope.
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