For those that have been following the case of the UVA lacrosse player, George Huguely, charged with killing his ex girlfriend UVA women's lacrosse player, Yeardley Love, he was found guilty. After nearly nine hours of deliberation Wednesday, a jury found George Huguely V guilty of second-degree murder and grand larceny involving the death of Yeardley Love. Huguely was found not guilty on all other charges.
Second-degree murder in Virginia is defined as murder with malice that is not premeditated. It carries a sentence of five to 40 years. A sentence of grand larceny ranges from one to 20 years.
After delivering the verdict, the jury deliberated for almost two hours and recommended a sentence of 26 years, 25 years for the murder charge and 1 year for grand larceny.
Seems like a fair sentence. It's sad all around. There really are no winners in this case. A young woman is dead and a young man has thrown his life away. He will spend the next couple of decades in jail and even when he comes out, it is hard to imagine he will be able to thrive. Personally, I don't think it was premeditated so it seems appropriate to not get first degree murder charges. I do believe he went over there that night to do harm. I do not think he intended to kill her. It seems like a guy that had an alcohol problem and anger issues and things went too far. It's too bad for him but it is really too bad for Yeardley Love and her family. Again, there are no winners and it's sad that something like this had to happen.
5 comments:
Seems like the right decision. His lawyers were arguing it was manslaughter - basically it was an accident.
Second degree is not an accident, but it is not pre-meditated murder either. It basically comes down to having a reckless disregard for human life and engaging in dangerous behavior that results in murder.
We'll see what the actual sentence is, but I think he should serve at least 20 years in prison (i.e., no parole). He can get out when he is in his 40s and still have a life. Unfortunately the same can't be said for Yeardley Love.
This guy should never walk free again. I don't think Virginia law allows for parole.
He took someone else's life and should pay for it with his own. Im not for death penalties but his "freedom" should be voided for as long as he lives.
Its interesting because the outcome begs for me to draw a comparison of whether the sentence would have been the same if Huguely were black instead of a presumably rich, lacrosse playing white boy.
There is no parole in VA so he will do the entire 26 years assuming the judge decides not to lighten the sentence which would be surprising. The question is if the 2 years he has already spent will be counted towards the 26.
The sentence is fair for me. He was hammered and he did something incredibly horrible. However, I don't believe it was premeditated. I have done plenty of stupid things when I was drunk in college. I have drank so much that I have lost control. It is terrible. Yeardley Love is gone but Huguely will spend the next 26 years in jail and when he gets out, he will still have to live with the fact that he killed someone and it will be hard for him to escape that.
Again, there are no winners in this sad case.
If he was black and/or poor he would never have gotten off so easy.
People get hammered all the time - but few do what he did.
People get hammered all the time in college and do some crazy stuff. I am not saying that what he did is close to what I (or most people) did/do. Still, it was a horrific thing he did but I don't believe he meant to kill. I think he loved drinking. I think it made an entitled kid feel on top of the world. He seemed to have some anger issues. He was drunk. He went over there with bad intentions. He didn't want to kill but probably hurt. Unfortunately, it went further than he thought and he is where he is.
He got what he deserved and it's done.
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