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
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.
We still convict 'em -- and apparently now we send them to the CLINTON Correctional Facility!
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.
All too fitting...MUD
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.
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.
The article never said that the statement was coerced. It says Lucie claimed the Statement was coerced.
That's a big difference.
LOL, yeah, right.
well hopefully he'll meet Bubba in the shower a few times and learn what it was like for his daughter.
That struck me as creepy.
My thoughts, too. I wish we had a juror to chat with.
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.
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.
Who's assuming anything? The man was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury.
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.
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?
Don't most media articles & reports?
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.
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