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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (248067)	8/30/2005 7:08:59 AM
From: Elroy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573930

Maybe the UN will send aid to the US? Yeah, and a few highly sexually active peacekeepers as well. Watch out New Orleans 13 year old girls, the UN is coming to help!

To: steve harris who wrote (248067)	8/30/2005 8:26:22 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1573930

re: Maybe the UN will send aid to the US? Maybe Bush should ask. They would probably say yes.

To: steve harris who wrote (248067)	8/30/2005 10:38:22 AM
From: paret	Respond to of 1573930

Miller burned the child with a lighter, branded an “X” on the infant and broke the child’s jaw. The doctor’s report listed 15 injuries the child sustained, which included bleeding of the brain, heavy bruising, cuts and multiple circular burns. Judge Reduces Sentence For Child Abuser Dan Telvock leesburg2day.com LEESBURG TODAY August 30, 2005 Aug 19, 2005 -- Circuit Court Judge John H. Chamblin this morning reduced a jury’s recommended sentence by five years for an Ashburn man convicted of felony child abuse and malicious wounding of an infant. The decision to reduce the sentence angered the prosecutor and at least one of the 12 jurors. On April 13, a Loudoun County jury recommended that Daniel Miller, 28, be sentenced to 20 years in prison for the vicious abuse of a 22-month-old infant he was babysitting. Chamblin reduced the sentence to 15 years. At the time of the crimes, which occurred April 9, 2004, Miller was dating the infant’s mother, who was at work during the abuse. Miller burned the child with a lighter, branded an “X” on the infant and broke the child’s jaw. The doctor’s report listed 15 injuries the child sustained, which included bleeding of the brain, heavy bruising, cuts and multiple circular burns. It took the jury more than nine hours to come up with its verdict and another four hours for the jury to recommend a sentence. Miller still claims he is innocent. During the trial, Miller attempted to implicate his sister as the one who might have abused the infant, and he admitted that several times that night he went to buy drugs, leaving the child out of his supervision. But in a written statement he read to the judge today, Miller said he accepts the court’s decision and that he plans to “make the best out of this situation.” Miller’s attorney, Eric Strom, said that Miller was raped by a babysitter when he was 13 years old. Miller’s mother said that after that incident, her son started drugging and drinking and became very depressed. Strom asked the judge not to sentence Miller to 20 years, citing that it is nearly 400 percent more than what the state recommends. The state sentencing guidelines for this case are far different than what the jury recommended. The guidelines for a defendant who committed similar crimes set a maximum sentence of five years and 10 months. The state sentencing guidelines are developed using a mathematical equation based on historical information of sentences handed down to those convicted of crimes. After the hearing, Loudoun County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Fisher was furious that Chamblin reduced the sentence. During his argument, he urged the judge to stick with the jury’s sentence because it is the voice of the community regarding crimes against the “most innocent of victims”—a child. He said no mathematical equation can match that of what a jury decides and recommends. “This case displays better than ever the fallacy of the Virginia sentencing guidelines,” Fisher said. “ ... A math equation cannot match 12 people on a jury and what evidence they heard.” Chamblin included a caveat to the reduction: the five years he reduced will be suspended for a period of 30 years after Miller is released from prison. That means if Miller violates his probation in a 30-year period after he is released, he could face serving those additional five years in prison. Chamblin told Miller, “I think there should be something hanging over your head for a longer period of time.” But Fisher said the caveat makes no difference because most convicts who violate their probation rarely get the full sentence that a judge suspends. “I vehemently disagree with the reduction of the jury sentence,” Fisher said after the hearing. Jury member Virginia Hudson said today that she was “troubled” by the judge’s decision to alter their recommendation. “We spent a lot of time coming up with what we thought was a fair sentence,” she said, adding that the maximum sentence they could have recommended was 30 years. “There was a lot to digest. It was a pretty good jury. We discussed everything calmly and everyone had good points and we weighed them all together and came up with what we thought was a good sentence.” The sentencing hearing today was riddled with problems. Strom had a list of errors and differences he wanted changed in the pre-sentence report. He wanted the reference to Miller’s nickname “X” taken out of the report because he said people disputed whether Miller ever used the nickname. Strom argued that the child did not sustain life-threatening injuries as was stated in the report and he asked that the reference be deleted. “Of course, all of this does not change the evidence at trial. You do understand that?” Chamblin said. Chamblin expressed concern three times during the 60 minutes both sides argued about what was in the report that this case was not going to be reversed because of these mistakes and differences. Chamblin also withdrew sentences in the report written by the probation officer after Strom said they were “inflammatory.” One of the sentences Strom said inferred that Miller should be punished for not taking responsibility for the crimes and maintaining that he is innocent. “I don’t want this case reversed on this issue either,” Chamblin said. Another error in the case was that the commonwealth’s victim impact statements were not included in the record. Fisher said he was not sure why the two statements—one from the infant’s grandmother and the other from the infant’s foster mother—did not get to Strom, the judge and in the file, but he speculated that it was a clerk error. Fisher said the letters were filed with the Circuit Court Clerks office on June 29. Chamblin did not include the letters but said he planned to investigate why the letters were not properly filed. “Believe me, I am going to get to the bottom of this,” Chamblin said. Fisher said the child—now 3 years old—is currently with his biological father and is doing well. leesburg2day.com