Harmon-Wright gets 3 years for executing sunday school teacher

[presence]

CULPEPER, Va. (AP) - Jurors recommended a sentence of three years in prison Friday for a former Culpeper police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman one year ago.
Continue reading (http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/02/daniel-harmon-wright-mistrial-denied-after-jury-misconduct-84732.html#continue)
http://images.wjla.com/crime/daniel_harmon-wright_-_jeff_goldberg_2_296.jpg Harmon-Wright was convicted Tuesday in the shooting death of Patricia Cook. Photo: Jeff Goldberg
More on this story

Defense asks for mistrial over jury misconduct (http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/01/daniel-harmon-wright-jury-to-recommend-sentence-wednesday-84648.html)
Ex-cop convicted of voluntary manslaughter (http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/01/daniel-harmon-wright-found-guilty-of-voluntary-manslaughter-84562.html)



The jury recommended the low end of sentencing guidelines for Daniel Harmon-Wright, who was convicted Tuesday of manslaughter in the Feb. 9, 2012, death of Patricia Ann Cook. He could have received up to 25 years, according to media reports.
Harmon-Wright, 33, defended his deadly decision to shoot Cook after she attempted to drive away in her vehicle with his arm caught in the window. He said he feared for his life.
"I just don't see any way out of what I did," he told jurors at his sentencing hearing.
Culpeper Circuit Judge Susan Whitlock will consider the jury's recommendations April 10. She can reduce the prison time but not increase it.
Earlier Friday, Whitlock denied a defense motion for a mistrial. Harmon-Wright's attorneys said jurors who convicted the defendant consulted a dictionary to guide their deliberations on the meaning of "malice," indicating they were confused about jury instructions.
Harmon-Wright, an Iraq War veteran, had been on the force for five years. While he said Cook began to drive away with his arm in her window, eyewitnesses testified they didn't see that occur.
They also testified that Harmon-Wright pursued Cook's SUV on foot down the street, firing from behind.
Special prosecutor Jim Fisher told jurors Harmon-Wright "slaughtered" Cook. He asked the jury to sentence him to the maximum 25-year sentence.
Defense attorney Daniel Hawes said Harmon-Wright was just doing his job in attempting to protect the public that day.


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[Demigod]

Someone said in the thread about Dorner "Why would anyone kill someones family when they had nothing to do with it".If someone killed my wife for no good reason ( does not matter if he was a cop ),and the jury gave him only 3 years in prison.I would go for the JURY,for the JUDGE and their entire families and the family of the cop but not him,with their families coming first so they can see how it hurts.

So next time when a murderer comes on trial they would think twice what they pass as sentence.

[Origanalist]

. Harmon-Wright's attorneys said jurors who convicted the defendant consulted a dictionary to guide their deliberations on the meaning of "malice," indicating they were confused about jury instructions.

1. That doesn't surprise me.

2. This is why you ignore the instructions ie jury nullification.

[phill4paul]

Would any other citizen, that did not have a job in law enforcement, have received a 3 year sentence under the same circumstances? Still, I suppose, it is better than an acquittal.

[Origanalist]

Would any other citizen, that did not have a job in law enforcement, have received a 3 year sentence under the same circumstances? Still, I suppose, it is better than an acquittal.

Not by enough to matter.

[Demigod]

Would any other citizen, that did not have a job in law enforcement, have received a 3 year sentence under the same circumstances? Still, I suppose, it is better than an acquittal.

This is not the fault of the police.They put him on trial,there was a jury and a judge and all they gave him was a 3 year sentence.It is the fault of the prosecutor,the judge and the jury ( in short the whole system ).

And why is the police hiring ex-soldiers as cops all the time.Every video of a cop I hear them saying "I am an ex-marine/ex-army" .What is the difference between sending the military to patrol the streets and giving retired soldiers a badge and calling them cops.An army is a force of death,everything you are trained is how to inflict death in the best way possible,while a police is meant to exact order.When you put those philosophies together all you get is "Order trough death/force".

.

[TheTexan]

Would any other citizen, that did not have a job in law enforcement, have received a 3 year sentence under the same circumstances? Still, I suppose, it is better than an acquittal.

He'll probably be out in 1... or less...

[jtap]

This is not the fault of the police.They put him on trial,there was a jury and a judge and all they gave him was a 3 year sentence.It is the fault of the prosecutor,the judge and the jury ( in short the whole system ).

And why is the police hiring ex-soldiers as cops all the time.Every video of a cop I hear them saying "I am an ex-marine/ex-army" .What is the difference between sending the military to patrol the streets and giving retired soldiers a badge and calling them cops.An army is a force of death,everything you are trained is how to inflict death in the best way possible,while a police is meant to exact order.When you put those philosophies together all you get is "Order trough death/force".

.

The only connection to me is that they have a gun in both instances. In one you need to use it, in the other it is supposed to be the threat of using it that makes people behave. I think maybe some soldiers blur this line and take the job as an opportunity to shoot stuff. Maybe that amount is enough to keep giving us these headlines.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

This is not the fault of the police.


It was SURELY the fault of one of them.

Had she killed the cop, they would have executed her on the spot. Oh, wait, one did that anyway for no reason at all, and then lied about the circumstances.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

in the other it is supposed to be the threat of using it that makes people behave.


No, it is NOT. The job of police is not to "make people behave." They aren't even slightly capable of that.