Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Rule Number One: Never Piss Off A Judge

A Tucson woman got a longer jail sentence after a judge heard a recorded jail conversation during which she made light of the bicyclist she had killed. 27-year-old Melissa Arrington was convicted two months ago of negligent homicide and two counts of aggravated DUI for running over and killing bicyclist Paul L'Ecuyer. She could have gotten as few as four years behind bars, but Pima County Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank sentenced her to 10 ½ years, one year shy of the maximum.

The judge said he found a telephone conversation between Arrington and an unknown male friend (recorded a week after L'Ecuyer was killed) "breathtaking in its inhumanity." During the conversation, the man told Arrington that a friend of theirs believed she should get a medal and a parade because she had "taken out" what he said was a "tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot."

Arrington laughed, and when the man said he knew it was a terrible thing to say, she responded, "No, it's not."

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