Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Man get 50 years in prison for raping daughter who hung herself
AP Wire (direct feed) | June 16, 2004 | WILLIAM KATES

Posted on 06/16/2004 9:25:09 AM PDT by NYer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) _ A father was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison Wednesday for raping his 11-year-old daughter, who later hung herself.

Timothy Lucie, 46, stood stoically as Onondaga County Judge William Walsh imposed back-to-back sentences of 25 years to life for his conviction on first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy charges. Lucie said nothing before Walsh sentenced him. His wife, Andrea Lucie, hurried from the courtroom in tears, refusing to talk to reporters. She testified in her husband's defense.

``In all my years on this planet, I've never been at a loss for words. Today, I am,'' Walsh said. ``My sentence will have to speak for me.'' Walsh said he would recommend that Lucie serve his sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility, in a special program that isolates inmates who may be at risk from other prisoners because of the crimes they committed.

Lucie was convicted last month following an eight-day trial. He also was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child. He has appealed his conviction. Lucie was accused of sexually assaulting his daughter, Valerie, in the shower at their Syracuse home Sept. 30. Hours later her 8-year-old brother found her hanging from her bedpost by a dog collar and leash in what police said was an apparent suicide.

A furniture business owner, Lucie confessed to the rape after a six-hour interrogation on Oct. 13. He then recanted as police prepared to put the confession on videotape. Lucie claimed his confession was coerced by police, who he said threatened to arrest his wife and take away his four younger sons if he didn't admit to the sexual attack. Defense attorney Ken Moynihan had little to say, other than objecting to prosecutors' characterization that Lucie was not remorseful about this daughter's death.

Moynihan said Lucie ``deeply misses'' his daughter, but prosecutors never gave him the chance to properly grieve because they immediately made him the subject of a criminal investigation. Chief Assistant District Attorney Christine Garvey asked Walsh to give Lucie 50 years in prison, saying he ``deserved every second in state prison that this court can sentence him to.''

Garvey said there is typically a time at sentencing when family members are allowed to speak on behalf of the victim. ``But there is no one from Valerie Lucie's family to be that child's voice. It is truly sad. An 11-year-old is dead and she doesn't have anybody from her family _ not her aunts or her uncles, or her grandparents, to say what a wonderful child she was, how she was loved and how she will be missed,'' Garvey said.

Instead, Garvey read a short letter composed by Leslie Plucknette, Valerie's former third-grade teacher at Fairbanks Road Elementary School in the Churchville-Chili School District near Rochester. Plucknette sat through the entire trial and was in her usual second-row seat for Wednesday's sentencing. Plucknette's letter described Valerie as an engaging, excitable child, ``a petite, little girl with a smile as wide as her braids were long.'' Plucknette said Valerie ``sang with the voice of an angel,'' and was the star of her third-grade class' performance of ``Charlotte's Web.''

After court, Plucknette stood in the hallway, showing off a photograph of Valerie at a party with some friends. ``If he stays in jail for 50 years, that would be justice,'' she said.

Several jurors also attended the sentencing. Foreman Michael Spado said he, too, was there for Valerie. ``That poor little girl only had 11 years. Fifty years is a satisfactory sentence but it can't bring Valerie back,'' Spado said. Spado said the jury was not allowed to consider Valerie's death as it deliberated the case. However, Spado said he personally held Lucie responsible for Valerie's death.

AP-ES-06-16-04 1209EDT


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: New Mexico
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 201-207 next last
To: MEGoody

This was said during the sentencing phase, not during the trial. Lucie had already been convicted at this point. It certainly would be inappropriate for a judge to say something like this during a trial.


101 posted on 06/16/2004 11:13:05 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: Mudboy Slim

We still convict 'em -- and apparently now we send them to the CLINTON Correctional Facility!


102 posted on 06/16/2004 11:14:38 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 99 | View Replies]

To: NYer

He most likely will get killed or wish we was dead in jail, no matter where they put him, pedophiles don't fare too well in jail.


103 posted on 06/16/2004 11:15:36 AM PDT by Delbert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentShrinker
"...apparently now we send them to the CLINTON Correctional Facility!"

All too fitting...MUD

104 posted on 06/16/2004 11:17:12 AM PDT by Mudboy Slim ("DemonRATS" Is Their Name...Socialism Is Their Aim!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 102 | View Replies]

To: F.J. Mitchell; monday

And how many 11 year olds need help undressing to take a shower? I haven't read anything that suggests that this girl was handicapped or retarded.


105 posted on 06/16/2004 11:17:35 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: All

A better punishment would be to just put a bullet in the back of his skull. Baring that, just put him in with the general population and see how long he lasts.


106 posted on 06/16/2004 11:17:49 AM PDT by COEXERJ145
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: kpp_kpp
The article speaks of no evidence that was used to convict him other than a coersed statement that was retracted.

The article never said that the statement was coerced. It says Lucie claimed the Statement was coerced.

That's a big difference.

107 posted on 06/16/2004 11:18:39 AM PDT by CharacterCounts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: NYer
Spado said the jury was not allowed to consider Valerie's death as it deliberated the case.

LOL, yeah, right.

108 posted on 06/16/2004 11:21:28 AM PDT by Sloth (We cannot defeat foreign enemies of the Constitution if we yield to the domestic ones.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer

well hopefully he'll meet Bubba in the shower a few times and learn what it was like for his daughter.


109 posted on 06/16/2004 11:22:02 AM PDT by Johnny Gage (Will ZOT for Beer!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentShrinker
And how many 11 year olds need help undressing to take a shower? I haven't read anything that suggests that this girl was handicapped or retarded.

That struck me as creepy.

110 posted on 06/16/2004 11:22:08 AM PDT by najida (Who said I could spell? My fingers are faster than my brain.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: Our man in washington

My thoughts, too. I wish we had a juror to chat with.


111 posted on 06/16/2004 11:22:29 AM PDT by Teacher317
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Izzy Dunne

Sadly the name of ex POTUS Bill Clinton overshadows any others with the Clinton name now. Since this is NY state I am pretty sure the name refers to a former governor or senator from the state. George or De Witt respectively.


112 posted on 06/16/2004 11:22:38 AM PDT by xp38
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Pontiac
The fact that there is no semen may not mean anything but the fact that there is no tearing of the vagina or rectum of a raped and sodomized 11 year old girl certainly does.

That depends both on her size and his (I was full grown, fully developed, and menstruating at 11). It also, sadly, depends on whether or not this was the first time. Many girls who are molested by a family member are molested over a long period of time, with progressive types/degrees of contact.

113 posted on 06/16/2004 11:23:22 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]

To: NCSteve
The mob mentality on this site is frightening as well. 90% of the posts on this article are willing to assume this man's guilt,...

Who's assuming anything? The man was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury.

114 posted on 06/16/2004 11:26:17 AM PDT by CharacterCounts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 97 | View Replies]

To: MarMema
Sadly, it looks like most "thinking" FReepers are more than happy to jump on the hang-em-high-and-darn-the-evidence bandwagon. If we get a 10-1 ratio of knee-jerk emotional reactions on a forum as thought-provoking as THIS one, I can only imagine what a jury pool would produce. Here's to hoping they didn't convict an innocent man.

On the other hand, the reactions of the parents don't really match what MY reactions would be if I were in a similar position. A stumper all around. If only we had decent journalists at work today.

115 posted on 06/16/2004 11:26:28 AM PDT by Teacher317
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: F.J. Mitchell
"The confession does not sound fabricated."

You might be surprised at how detailed false confessions can be. People broken by the KGB often gave detailed accounts of imaginary crimes, even implicating family members and close friends. The mind sometimes leads one to do the unexpected, and even the highly irrational, under stress.
116 posted on 06/16/2004 11:27:41 AM PDT by monday
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: ahayes
"Walsh said he would recommend that Lucie serve his sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility..."

An appropriate prison for someone like him to be sent to. Clinton (next to Elmira), is probably the toughest prison in New York State. It's also known as Gladiator School or the school of hard knocks. He will not be a happy camper and he will be treated just as he deserves. It'd be a pity if the guy decided to hang up while in their custody now wouldn't it?

117 posted on 06/16/2004 11:43:05 AM PDT by mass55th
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: BibChr
"The article does leave several obvious questions unaddressed"

Don't most media articles & reports?

118 posted on 06/16/2004 11:45:10 AM PDT by mass55th
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: GovernmentShrinker
"And how many 11 year olds need help undressing to take a shower? I haven't read anything that suggests that this girl was handicapped or retarded."

I haven't said that he didn't do it...he could be guilty, but I wouldn't rely on a confession made after six hours of questioning, to convict him. People will often make up stories to please their interrogators just to stop the unpleasantness of the interrogation. People who have recently lost a loved one are especially vulnerable to intimidation and coercion.

Imagine your dismay if your child had just died and instead of being able to grieve you were interrogated for six hours all the while being accused of raping her?

I find it troubling also that members of his family apparently all believe he is innocent. Shouldn't they know the suspect best? It also seems strange that the girl had a habit of hanging her stuffed animals with shoestrings from her bedpost, just as she was found?

I don't know. He is a monster if guilty, but I question the confession. See my post #116.
119 posted on 06/16/2004 11:48:01 AM PDT by monday
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: Guillermo

If he's put in segregation at Clinton, he'll end up wishing he was in general pop before too long. It ain't pretty.


120 posted on 06/16/2004 11:49:03 AM PDT by mass55th
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 201-207 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson