Jamie Reidy is shocked by the jury’s decision to convict lacrosse player George Huguely V only of second degree murder in the slaying of his former girlfriend, Yeardley Love.
From Time.com in the case of George Huguely V, who was found guilty of Second Degree Murder of his former girlfriend, Yeardley Love.
Jurors found a former University of Virginia lacrosse player guilty of second-degree murder Wednesday in the slaying of his ex-girlfriend that was fueled by jealousy over her relationship with another lacrosse player.
As a former college wrestler, I share Cameron Conaway’s frustration over the defense attorney’s description of his jock client’s behavior.
Regardless, the trial’s outcome leaves me hollow.
Consider this:
Person A sends Person B a jealous email stating, “I should have killed you.”
One week later, Person B is found dead. The police easily determine that Person A is the killer.
The jury hits Person B with a second-degree murder conviction.
What. The. Fuck.
Which part of the first-degree murder connect the dots game am I missing?
Photo: AP
Richard you are right of course. But I am always fascinated by what some people have dubbed Missing White Woman Syndrome. Iow, when someone is missing the amount of press they receive is directly related to who white they are, how many x&y chormosomes they have and of course how ‘pretty’ they are. BTW, most studies also show that when someone is convicted of a crime those same rules apply to the sentence AND also it those rules are in place in relation to the victime of the crime. What I found fascinating that that gender of the perp and… Read more »
John. I recall when Nancy Grace–who was recently lampooned on “Body of Evidence”–was trying to find a missing black girl. Just for balance, I suppose. OTOH, not many people want to kidnap a guy, pretty or not, Jesse Dirkhising notwithstanding, and if there are missing black girls, they don’t even make the local paper. So maybe there’s less material. As to the effect of the race of the vic, see the Duke lax hoax and the reaction to the more or less concurrent rape of Dukie Katie Rouse (aka “who?”) My wife and I used to chaperone students overseas before… Read more »
We are supposed to be a government of laws, not of men. That this guy killed a pretty white girl instead of, say, a liquor store clerk should be irrelevant. The elements of “first degree” are pretty severely limited as one commenter has noted. It is the sort of case, of many, that the folks promoting restorative justice would like to avoid discussing. “rehabilitation” is used as a single concept so often that its construction is over looked. It presumes somebody was habilitated in the first place, lost it temporarily, and has to be helped to find it again. I… Read more »
I hope this case stays prominently in the media or as a reminder to college kids about abuse and violence in relationships….there were so many red flags in this case….sometimes it’s the person you least expect who attacks you…..
Reading about the case is triggering for me….I am lucky enough to have survived a violent attack….
RIP YL
This murder is disturbing, but then any murder is disturbing and senseless. I’m confused. The first article (He’s not complex. He’s a lacrosse player) says that he is facing FIRST degree murder, while this newer article says he’s getting SECOND degree murder — Which is it? I’ll go with Time’s version, that he got second degree murder. Huguely is guilty as hell and should have received first degree murder verdict. The judge/jury are biased; this is like the Casey Anthony case — in that, good looking people can’t be evil or too evil…and if you’re white, young and hot, you… Read more »
“… this is like the Casey Anthony case …”
Huguely will spend 60 years in prison, with no possibility for parole.
Casey Anthony has received several 1 million dollar book deals, and is a multi-millionare celebrity.
This is NOTHING like the Casey Anthony case.
I think what sometimes happens at trial is that the defendant faces the most severe charges, but the jury has the option to convict to a lesser charge if they feel that the more severe charge is unwarranted, but that the evidence supports a conviction on the lesser charge so the defendant doesn’t have to be tried twice.
Michelle, you argument is based upon a series of unproven assumptions. You were not a juror and cannot possibly know everything that they saw or felt. You are also assuming (again without proof) that the attractiveness of the defendant outweighed the attractiveness of the victim (as the same arguments could be made that because she was young, white, and pretty someone was getting convicted regardless of the evidence). The facts remain that the narrative fit second degree murder better than they fit first degree murder (it is nearly impossible to prove first degree murder when the defendant was intoxicated at… Read more »
Mike, thanks for the legal explanation. Not the first time I’ve spouted off without all (any?) facts.
Virginia uses common law homicide statutes, and first-degree murder is a specific intent crime, meaning that it is (in most instances) legally impossible to commit while in a “drunken rage” which is one of the narratives that was offered at trial (because it is difficult to believe a drunk person has a substantial ability to plan for the future while intoxicated). The jury specifically asked for instructions clarifying “intent” so it’s pretty clear they considered these issues. Can’t you accept that he’s still facing up to 60 years in prison in a state with no possibility of parole and just… Read more »
@john hall “Can’t you accept that he’s still facing up to 60 years in prison in a state with no possibility of parole and just be happy?” That’s a level of justice surely if he is in fact guilty of first degree murder. If he is guilty of first degree murder, it is in fact not justice even if he gets a substantially similar sentence, which is probably not assured because the minimums are probably different also. It would be similar to saying that it’s fine if women can’t be charged with raping a man as long as the charge… Read more »
yes, I know those facts about the Casey Anthony case. She got away with murder because she’s a pretty, young white woman. He will never get 60 years…look at how pretty he is. He already got a lesser charge…second-degree. And did you not read the part: “In his closing arguments, defense attorney Francis McQ. Lawrence described Huguely as hulking, hard-drinking jock but no killer. He acknowledged Huguely had an unintended, accidental role in Love’s death, arguing for a finding of involuntary manslaughter and a 10-year prison term.” Hard-drinking jock but no killer, and involuntary manslaughter…asking for only 10 years? I… Read more »
This post was in reply to Anthony Zarat’s post. I don’t know how this ended up here – glitch!
John, I refuse to accept the idea that semantics matter. He has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. The mandatory minimum sentence under first degree murder in Virginia is 20 years, so he is literally serving more than the minimum for a first degree murder conviction. What the conviction is called should not matter. The attempt to draw a connection to sex-crimes is an appeal to emotion, not a rational argument. From a rational standpoint, he is going to serve an amount of time consumate with the penalty for the crime he committed (which, as I noted above, was… Read more »
So what we learn here is that, first, if you want to commit murder — make sure you are in a drunken state before you go in for the kill — because this at least absolves you of first degree murder.
Killers are knowledgeable these days and getting very sophisticated. It’s just going to get harder to try someone for 1st degree by this very fact. Murderers kill leaving little to no evidence behind to convict them…and if you got money, the odds increase.
Yes, the acknowledgement of mitigating circumstances could be abused by a cold blooded killer, that doesn’t mean that genuine temporary insanity ceases to exist. Getting very sophisticated these days? You make it sound like theres a rising tide of serial killers out there.
No, he is serving an amount of time within the range that he would have served had he been convicted of first degree nurder. The fact that he’s servicing more than the minimum for second degree murder is testament to the fact that he should be serving more than the minimum. Unless you are arguing that the judge took into consideration that he should have been convicted of first degree murder then you have to assume that the judge sentenced him to what he thought was fair for second degree murder. According to USA a second degree murder conviction in… Read more »
That should have said USA Today. Update: According to the Washington Post, the jury recommended a sentence of 26 years, but he has not been sentenced. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/jury-says-former-uva-lacrosse-player-should-serve-26-years-for-exs-killing-larceny-charge/2012/02/22/gIQA6J1MUR_story.html?tid=pm_sports_pop Mike, had you made the same argument that you made to MichelleG which is that he was convicted of second degree murder based on the determination of the jury when faced with the evidence so justice was served, I would completely agree. I have no dog in that fight, but your statement to Jamie that he should just accept a second degree murder sentence for the crime of first degree murder implying that… Read more »