[SDCBC] Maximum Sentence for Killing Bicyclist

[Neil Brooks]

I'm gonna' be sick.

Score one for the good guys, at least.

--- Philip Erdelsky <pje at efgh.com> wrote:

>  From Fox News online:
> 
> TUCSON, Ariz. —  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 10 1/2 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 Dec. 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 DUI.
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