Memphis murder trial verdict

[Guest Revelator]

The verdict came in tonight on the Jeffery Scott murder trial: 2nd Degree Murder. The jury deliberated about six hours.

http://commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jan/19/jeffrey-scott-found-guilty-second-degree-murder/

This has been an extremely high-profile case in Memphis the last 2+ years. For those of you who haven't heard of it, the husband beat the wife to death on Thanksgiving Day 2006. This was a young, attractive, upwardly mobile white couple living in a nice neighborhood.

The stuff that came out at trial about their life was crazy. Excessive drinking (by both), affairs (by both...he was sleeping with her friend, she supposedly send pictures via phone of a sex toy in her vagina to her lover), and lots, lots of abuse by the husband. But the wife was certainly no angel.

The husband was charged with first degree murder and got second. Actually, I wouldn't have been surprised if it came back voluntary manslaughter. There was definitely some room to argue that this was a heat of passion crime. But the injuries to the wife told this was no ordinary domestic fight. She was beaten from head to toe, with massive head contusions and brain hemmorhaging, then left out in the garage all night long. He didn't call for help until about 12 hours later, and she was eventually pronounced dead at the hospital.

A lot of people are going to say the the guy didn't get enough, that it should have been 1st degree and a life sentence. I tend to agree, but 2nd degree is probably a good compromise. He's looking at 15-25 years with no chance of parole. By law, 2nd degree murder is a no-parole offense. If he got voluntary manslaughter he would've been looking at 3-6 years with even a chance of probation. Probably wouldn't have gotten it but he could've asked. So to me, 15-25 at 100% is pretty reasonable.

And if you think about it, even though he won't spend the rest of his life in prison (assuming the verdict doesn't get overturned on appeal and all that) he'll be serving a sentence until the day he dies. He easily holds the title of Most Hated Man in Memphis, and when he is free he's going to have a tough time getting a job. Folks aren't going to forget this case. And he can forget about things like, say, going on a date or having a relationship with a woman. No female is going to go near this guy. When he gets out he's going to have no money (what little he has will go to paying his lawyer, his bondsman, and his court costs), no job prospects, no social life, and the stigma of an abusive, violent, woman-hating murderer. He'll probably have some friends and family to help him out, but his life is pretty much ruined forever. It may not all be spent in prison, but all in all I'd say it's just punishment.

[musicman]

Well that sounds good. But what still get me everytime I hear about a nice long sentencing is that now taxpayers have to come up with what... $35-$50k per year to keep his sorry behind in jail. Even with the cost of ammo at record highs, .357 Magnums are still VERY cheap in comparison!

[Punisher84]

I've been keeping an eye on this since Ashley was murdered. I didn't know her personally, but knew several people that did. The whole thing just sucked. I wish he had gotten 1st degree, but I agree that 2nd, in this case, is pretty reasonable.

I thought the releasing of the info that she sent her lover sexual texts was a bit much for the public. So what if she sent dude a picture of her pleasuring herself with a sex toy? A LOT of people are guilty of that and worse in this day and age. I think "She sent text messages sexual in nature." would have sufficed.