What do you think of Huguely's sentence?
-
Maria Wolfe: "I think the jury did a great job with their verdict. And I hope that the judge comes out with the 26-year sentence; I don't think it needs to be any lighter than that."hook staff -
Tim F. Jost Tolson: "I can't second-guess the jury and what they found out, what they know; but I think the verdict sounded appropriate."hook staff -
Greg Sarff: "I think given the evidence, the sentence is fair. It's hard to say what really happened, but knowing what was said in court, I think he should've gotten around that amount of time."hook staff
Read more on: Question of the week
34 comments
Which sentence? I didn't think he testified..........
That question will be easier to answer once the judge sets a sentence based on the jury's recommendations.
The question now is more like: How long can the Hook continue to milk a story to drive advertising revenue while still hoping to hold an audience?
Actually, the question is pretty easy to answer right now, before the judge formally sets a sentence.
It's not like the 1950's when newspapers had to guess a little about what stories people were reading. The Hook is simply feeding a public hunger for information about this story. And if advertisers want to go where the readers are, that seems pretty smart to me. Personally, I think the Hook has done a very good job covering this story from day one.
Agree with you frank, outside of the absurd steroid speculation article. That almost ruined all the good coverage.
Initially I was ok with the verdict but after reading earlier this week about the guy who robbed a pizza boy in Staunton of two pizzas and $7 getting a recommended sentence of 15 years by the jury I really wish he would have gotten longer as a life warrants much more
It puzzles me that a black man stabbing his black wife to death gets 15 years. And a white man killing a white girl gets a recommendation of 26 years. This is almost twice the sentence and sends the message out to the community that a black life is not worth as much as white life.
It also puzzles me that a Culpeper cop can shoot a woman to death, with immunity, after his arm in free from entrapment and he is chasing her up the street emptying his weapon at her. And this is assuming the cop's arm was trapped in the window in the first place.
The entire criminal justice system in this country is broke and needs fixing.
It seems like the jury was conscious of the fact that they did not want their work overturned--26 years seems within the range of what most legal experts were predicting, and I bet the judge concurs.
I think it sends a bad message to the community when a black man gets 15 years for viciously stabbing his wife to death, and a white man gets 26 years for killing a white woman. It places much less value on black lives.
Toby, I think it's interesting that instead of saying the man who robbed the pizza guy should have gotten a *lighter* sentence, you say that Huguely should have gotten a *longer* sentence.
Gasbag, I could see someone making the opposite point if the sentences were reversed: Why did the black man get put away for 26 years and the white kid got off easy with 15?
Should have hired better counsel...there was an opportunity for him to have gotten much less.
My opinion of the sentence ? The hook is in trouble because they have nothing to write about anymore, hence continued "articles" and questions about the case.
Huguely's council was definitely sub-par, but (obviously) what "did-him-in" was waiving his rights and blabbing to police on the interogation tape. He was without-a-doubt still Buzzed or supr hung-over at 6:00am. I guarantee he would of got manslaughter and 10 years less if he was such a stupid moron. Talking to cops when you are in trouble (without proper representation) is totally laughable. (Almost) any idiot knows that.
I've been involved in the criminal justice system since the late 1960's. I started as an assistant to the county attorney in a major city and arrived in Charlottesville about ten years later. I've watched some great defense counsel, some average defense counsel and some poor defense counsel. RQ and FMcQL put on the worse defense in a trial of this nature that I have ever seen. If I was still teaching the law, I'd invite them to a class as examples of how not to do it. The real issue here is the jury. From what I have been able to learn, the jury was pro UVA and several self proclaimed "experts" on the jury swayed the weaker jurors to not go for the maximum penalty.
With the exception of the Park Street divorce bar, there are no worse lawyers in this town than the Park Street criminal defense bar.
Note to future GHV's, if you want good defense in a criminal case, get a lawyer from a DC firm. They don't fake illness or fail to provide a full defense.
BTW, The Hook did a great job of covering this circus. The Washington Post carried some very insightful articles about the trial, the University and the town. The Regress and the News Loser in Staunton were too busy covering land use issues and problematic dams to give this matter the coverage it deserved. Watch these two papers go the way of the other fish wrappers in Virginia have gone in the last few years. Bye, bye!
I cannot believe that some are complaining that Huguely got too harsh a sentence. I am delighted the jury didn't buy the defense's "experts" argument that it was "an unfortunate accident."
If anything he got off too lightly. Maybe the law should be changed to make getting a conviction for first degree easier in cases like this.
@ Recovering Attorney
"They don't fake illness..."
I'm not a fan of Huguely, not a fan of lawyers, and I'm not friends with Huguely's lawyers, so I don't say the following for any of those reasons. But, from what I gather, Quagliana was *not* faking her stomach virus. There was, and still is, a nasty stomach virus being passed around Cville for the past several weeks. A colleague of mine just missed work because of it and looked worse for the wear when he returned. It was unfortunate timing for Quagliana that she caught it during her trial. The most inopportune timing possible. But so it goes. It seems the only way people would have believed her is if she showed up to court anyway and proceeded to "projectile vomit" into a trash can every 10 minutes in the middle of the trial. Would you really have wanted to see that? Or been exposed to that contagion so you yourself could be next? Because that's the type of virus this is.
Anyway, off my soap box now...
@ Recovering Attorney .... What strategy for defense do you feel should have been used ? What theories and story should they have used instead of what was presented ?
He did not get a fair trial and the comment in this weeks Hook about him being old enough when he gets out so he won't drink is rediculous. I can't believe the jury was influenced by one of their own, who claims to work with Alcoholics. Lets bring in a professional opinion for the jurors to hear about the disease of alcoholism, not someone's opinion. In addition, 26 years was a very very harsh sentence. Maybe the jurors should spend a day in jail and see the hell they have sentenced him to. He has been in isolation for two years, no TV and no people. He has a radio and books, that is it! Child molesters and rapist do less time and they are put back into society. The question they should have answered before they locked him away for that long is, "Will he be a threat to society?" From what I saw the answer is no. So now instead of maybe going out and doing some good in the world, which many people do after they make such a horrible mistake, he will rot in jail and probably get killed by another inmate. I would like to meet the jurors and tell them what I think of their horrific sentence. I feel very sorry for him and the victim. The other UVA student that stabbed and killed someone 18 times only got three years. To me that is a very similar crime done in a state of range. George should have gotten 10 years tops. I hope Judge Hogshire reduces his sentence. Actually, I hope he get a new trial, a fair one.
Where was the juries compassion? Is George really a threat to society? Do they have any clue what jail is like? No! Jail is hell on earth and he did not get a fair trial. If he had killed a man in a rage he would have gotten a lesser sentence like the other UVA student who stabbed and killed a guy 18 times. I agree with Elizabeth. He deserves another trial I hope Judge Hogshire drops his sentence way down, it is the right thing to do!
I hope the judge does over turn the jury and gives him 10 max! There is no justice in Virginia. We let the real threats to society go free and lock up the ones who are not. What are the odds of George Huguely ever harming anyone again after what he has been thru? In my mind, little to none!
ok friends of george, provide us with the statistics that show what happens when people in his situation are set free...show us the rate of recidivism. (even better let him date your sister or daughter when he gets out)
a radio, books and no people... that would be a vacation for some.
George Huguely did not recieve a fair trial because access to medical records by the defense were denied, eliminating practically any opportunity by the defense to challenge the prosecution's alleged cause of death. Enter: Adderall, killer of 20 people in Canada before the year 2005 when it was banned. You do the math on how many people have died in America since Adderall was put on the market. Canada has far less people and even by 2005 Adderall had killed twenty Canadians deader than a hammer. If George Huguely had killed as many people as Adderall has killed he would be the most notorious serial killer in all history of mankind. Not only was Adderall in Yeardley Love's room the night she died, it was in her body. George Huguely says Yeardley Love was alive when he left the night she died. There was a serial killer named Adderall, which has easily killed thousands of people, left with Yeardley Love after George Huguely left. That's called reasonable doubt. Blocking access to medical records in such circumstances is called judicial misconduct. Big Pharma is a corrupt megacorporation and if you don't think they control the coroners and hospitals to protect their products marketability I have some oceanfront property in Arizona for real cheap. If you think that if Yeardley Love had died from an Adderall induced heart attack like so many others have that Big Pharma's damage control team, the coroner, UVA, the police, and particularly the Commomwealth Attorney wouldn't be bending over backwards to make sure that information didn't come out in court, sending George Huguely to the Florida Keys and Adderall's manufacturers to jail instead (or at least helping to get their billion dollar product banned), I've got some great mountain view property in Iowa for real cheap.
A couple of questions:
.1)- How does the appeal process work?
.2)- Is there still a possibility of an entirely new trial?
.3)- Ballpark, how much money do you think Huguely had to shell out for that defense?
.4)- Do you really consider underage drinking, and drunk and disorderly to be serious crimes?
.5)- Have you ever walked around a frat house or off-campus apartments, there are broken and kicked in doors all over the place?
.6)- Will Huguely always be in segregation, or is there a possibility that one day he will be in general population.
.7)- Do you know anyone personally in this case?
.8)- What type of Lacrosse player was Huguely, did he exhibit an edge or meanstreak to his game?
.9)- Are inmates aloud to have facebook/twitter accounts?
.10)- Will the public ever get to see that infamous police interrogation tape?
.11)- Donyou think there will ever be a book or movies about this case?
Thanks
It should have been life! You people are nuts! Threat to society? Are you kidding me? Blaming Big Pharma for the death of this woman when she clearly suffered a beating from the hands of a boy who "loved" her? I think it is sick to have compassion for this murderer. I bet you all feel bad for the high school teenager who just open fired on his classmates too?
You mean that bullied kid in Ohio with the lousy family? No excuse for what he did, but you actually can and probably ought to have compassion for him.
Yes, 26 years is a very harsh punishment.
But it's a perfect fit for a very, very harsh crime.
Here's a privileged young man who was fully aware that he exhibited violent behavior when he consumed alcohol. Despite that knowledge, he chose to drink. And he chose to beat a woman to death.
26 years from now (or less) when GWH is released from prison, the Love family will be reminded all over of the 'life sentence' they were given.
Not sure we can conclude that he chose to beat her to death. She was alive when he left -- for at least a couple of hours. Chose to drink despite the super bad behavior it led to? Indeed he did. I'd wager that he never predicted it would lead to his killing someone.
Miss Information..
According to your reasoning (which is lacking logic), any person who inflicts harm on another should be handled with kid gloves because they didn't mean to do it! A drunk driver who slaughters an entire family deserves compassion. Gang members committing acts if violence need understanding. People who prey on children need help for their illness. Oh and of course, angry teen-age boys need hugs after they murder their classmates. If you were a parent which I am guessing you are not, then possibly you would value a life more and realize that compassion towards the perpetrator is disgusting and clearly misplaced.
My opinion, is that 26 years seems like a short sentence for a male who repeatedly beat a woman to death. People survive car crashes, airplane crashed, war battles all the time. But this guy beat her so badly that she DIED. Do you have any idea how much pain she suffered with each blow? No, we'll never know. Because she is gone. He didn't even call 911! Really, even if she had lived, I still think 26 years is not long enough.
We are all accountable for our own actions. Drunk, sad, angry, depressed, sick, crazy, jealous...whatever.
Sure he's accountable. But it's narrow minded to see only the obvious tragedy that befell Yeardley and her loved ones.
He's lucky he got to trial at all. That said his defense team was a joke, they should be ashamed to cash daddies check. But, it was a fair trial and he got his good riddance. The alcohol? No one twists any ones arm to take a drink, and another, and another, and another, the alcohol defense is wrong, wrong, wrong. Just ask any female victim of abuse caused by alcohol. See what they say. But of course in this mans world its always the girls fault anyway, right?
I disagree. I think it is important to focus on the obvious tragedy to avoid being manipulated by rediculous excuses for horrific behavior and lack of respect for human life.
Miss Information, maybe you should spend a few moments visualizing what it must have looked like to have GH's fist smashing into Love's face. Or imagine the sound of her pleads for mercy as he bashed her head in. Finally, think about the look on his face as he checks to see if she is breathing before he leaves her there ....not forgetting to steal her computer!
I don't believe I am being narrow minded at all. To me it is clear and logical thinking. Uncluttered by insignificant mumbo jumbo. I do not believe that anyone who beats someone to death because they want to deserves compassion.
Not saying there weren't any, but to my knowledge no one reported hearing any screams or cries or pleas for mercy.
First - don't know anything about the Cville defense bar, but assume he went with locals instead of a DC (or other big city) lawyer to appeal to the local jury? Also agreed that he SHOULDN'T have been drinking - or drinking as much as he did - knowing the type of behavior in which he'd previously engaged while drunk. The problem, I think, is that this guy is an alcoholic, in which case, without seeking or being forced to seek the proper treatment (whether it be inpatient, AA, etc), he simply COULDN'T not drink or, once he did, couldn't stop drinking. The fact that his father recently was indicted for a DUI suggests a genetic predisposition toward alcoholism. And although those who are not alcoholics often don't believe it, for a true alcoholic, choice doesn't factor into the matter. And, if someone is too immature, unself-aware, or embarrassed to get help, an intervention by friends and family shouldn't be overlooked. No, no excuse for what he did, but perhaps if we didn't put such stigma on ourselves and others for alcoholism, people would get themselves help or be receptive to help from others and situations like this could be prevented much of the time. (That said, 26 years seems like both a long and a short time - short because if he is not treated for alcoholism, he's going to start drinking the minute he walks out of prison.)
Huguely was the victim of poor parenting! Look at them. They are a mess. Daddy's crowning achievement in life was producing off-spring, losing a lot of George III’s money, and holding down bar stools. Small wonder George was instilled with such a robust sense of privilege and the ability to drink when lesser men would seek the comfort of a cozy bed.
If you are a crack defense team and your sole mission appears to be to minimize the length of George’s incarceration, why not put Daddy on the stand and have him produce a mea culpa? Maybe Momzie could get up there as well and talk about what a complete loser George IV turned out to be and how he was a bad role model, abusive husband, inattentive father, and generally bad person, etc.... Even if I am wrong about IV and he is salt of the earth it couldn’t hurt with the jury to paint V as a bit of a victim.
And to be clear, I think someone should kick the tuna salad out of IV for being such a complete loser!!! I find everything about him irritating. And more I learn the more irritated I get!
I guess the Huguely family learned an important less, spend the real money and get a DC firm! There are times in life when you should spend the money if you have it!
Imagine what would have happened to O.J. if he hired RQ and FMcQL as his defense team. RQ and FMcQL would have made Chris Darden and Marsha Clark look like a world beaters.