Posted on 06/17/2010 2:53:35 PM PDT by jazusamo
A Pierce County Superior Court judge Thursday sentenced LaTanya Clemmons to five years in prison for helping the suspected getaway driver after the murders of four Lakewood police officers in November.
Clemmons' brother, Maurice, committed the worst violence against police in state history when he shot and killed Lakewood police Sgt. Mark Renninger and officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards in a Parkland coffee shop early on Nov. 29. A Seattle police officer shot and killed Clemmons 40 hours later, following a massive manhunt.
Judge Stephanie Arend told Clemmons that although her actions "would not have changed the fate of the officers," they did delay the capture of the getaway driver and prolonged the anxiety of the community and the officers' grieving families.
LaTanya Clemmons, 34, had no criminal history and potentially faced six to 12 months under the standard sentencing range. But prosecutors argued that the extraordinary facts of the case merited an extra-long sentence. Arend agreed.
The courtroom was packed with officers' family members, police officers and supporters of Clemmons. The only one of the group to speak was Tom Delong, brother of slain police officer Tina Griswold. He choked up as he recalled buying his sister her first bike and watching her become a police officer, and then lashed out at Maurice Clemmons, his sisters' assassin.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Ping!
Justice ping.
Justice is served.
She will probably become a celebrity with the other inmates there in Purdy. I hope that there is no parole.
Latanya Clemmons was found guilty last Thursday of rendering criminal assistance for purposefully hiding her boyfriend Darcus Allen in a motel. She also was convicted of a second count of rendering criminal assistance for paying for Allen's motel room.
Agreed, then she can be a celebrity for the full five years.
Thanks for posting!
Why couldn’t she be considered an “accessory after the fact” and be sentenced to a longer sentence?
AFAIC, she should have got life with no parole for helping.
Yep. Now we just need to make sure the rest of her friends join her.
I’m actually impressed at how swift this was. It didn’t drag on for years.
I only vaguely remember this one. Was it an assassination or did the perp rob the coffee shop with the police inside?
It was an assassination. The officers were sitting and drinking coffee, going through papers, the perp announced he was going to kill them to his accomplice, went inside and proceeded to kill them all, but not before being wounded. Nothing stolen, but the lives of good men and women.
She was found guilty on two counts of aiding an abettor, not of aiding the killer and not guilty of two other counts that I believe were more serious charges. I don’t know the legalities by a long shot.
Yes, it was an out and out assassination.
Good news. I hope she serves the entire sentence...
Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, Officer Tina Griswold, 40, Officer Ronald Owen, 37, Officer Greg Richards, 42
■Sergeant Mark Renninger, age 39 with thirteen years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.
■Officer Ronald Owen, age 37 with twelve years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a former wife and a daughter.
■Officer Tina Griswold, age 40 with fourteen years of law enforcement experience. She is survived by her husband and two children.
■Officer Greg Richards, age 42 with eight years of law enforcement experience. He is survived by a wife and three children.
“Thanks go to Judge Stephanie Arend, she gets it.”
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If she were in San Francisco, Judge Arend’s heart and liver would be “spread across the rough sands of the sea.”
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I’ve never seen such ‘guilt’ before!
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Probably because she was an “accessory-after-the-fact,” and trying to charge her as an accessory in general would likely have gotten her off on a light sentence after appeal.
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