Two sentences were handed down today, one for Charlottesville’s latest would be wife killer, Patrick Shemorry (28) and one for an apparent drug kingpin, Warren “Pop” Rucker II (19).
Shemorry has made the the rounds of all the local news outlets for his attempted hiring of Michael Terry with the intent of killing his estranged wife, Starla. His sentence was only .5 years from the maximum allowed in his plea agreement.
Rucker opted to have his case heard by a jury, and was found guilty after a three day trial in September. His initial indictment was for possession and distribution of 56 grams of cocaine, 197 grams of crack cocaine, and a .45 caliber pistol.
Neither individual appears to have much, if any, criminal history, which would easily have effected the sentencing guidelines.
The only conclusion which can be drawn from these two events, is that the willful intent of causing a life to be taken is a significantly less serious offense then providing consenting adults with a substance which they seek to obtain. [Photo Credits]
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Tagged as: courts, Crime, drugs, murder, sentencing
While I agree with you in principle, I think everyone’s seen enough Law and Orders to realize DA’s (or CA’s in Virginia) give reduced sentences as an incentive to take the plea, while you’re rolling the dice on getting the max if you go for a jury trial. We’re getting closer and closer as a nation to the Libertarian viewpoint on drugs, especially marijuana. I think the current administration 6 months ago announced they weren’t enforcing federal drug laws where state law had legalized medical marijuana. With the current economic situation, more and more people are seeing the economic benefits of legalizing and taxing drugs. However, I wonder if that really would stop the war on drugs, or if it would just continue on against a black market or against the harder drugs.
Hamsterdam Forever.
Great response Simona, I really need to look at the guidelines for the various classes of felonies involved here to get an overall sense of the time involved. I’m just floored that these two cases turned out with such dissimilar sentences.
ian, intent isn’t a crime no matter what it is you intend to do. it’s an element of a crime. (well, most crimes.) merely wanting your wife to die isn’t a crime. it’s the solicitation that was. but yeah, seems silly it’s only 8 points. of course, committing the actual murder himself would have gotten him only 9 points, as long as he didn’t use a weapon.
The situation would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.
was the drug dealer black and the wife-killer white?
One could also make the argument that if you’re a rich kid whose rich daddy can hire good enough lawyers, you can get away with repeatedly stabbing and killing a local firefighter and get off with three years.
http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2006/05/18/newsbyebye.aspx
Me and my friend were just talking about that the other day. I think the father won his civil suit against the murderer but then the latter promptly filed for bankruptcy and the father is having trouble collecting. Anyone know anything about bankruptcy law? Does it make debts, including civil judgments, just disappear or can you still perfect them and get an order for wage garnishment?
That story is just so incredibly weird. I think there were a number of cases similar to that one, where wealth had obviously influenced the process itself, back when Camblos was CA, and that was part of why he didn’t get that judgeship and then got booted in the next election.
What happens if I shoot someone for pilfering my stash?