Man get 50 years in prison for raping daughter who hung herself

AP Wire (direct feed) | June 16, 2004 | WILLIAM KATES

[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

[najida]

A pre-pubescent girl of 11 is too old to be undressed or seen naked by her father, unless there are other circumstances (illness, injury, disability).

[cyncooper]

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

B.S.

There is no mob mentality (geeze, get a grip), and the man has been *convicted*. I'll go with the man's written confession and the jury's verdict and conclude he is guilty. You betcha.

[F.J. Mitchell]

But Mud, the ex-rapist-in-chief made it just as clear as Mississippi river water during a spring flood, that for any sexual encounter with the opposite sex, whether rape or between aleged to be consenting adults or forced passions upon reluctant partners of any age, to be defined as sex, depended entirely upon the particular orifice of penetration.

THe devil is in the details.

[cyncooper]

You might be surprised at how detailed false confessions can be. People broken by the KGB...

Yes, I'm sure the police here acted just like the KGB.

[kpp_kpp]

http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=2018
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=9708
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=10689
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=12163
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=12668
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=13409
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=13511
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=15873
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=17332
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=19323
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=19566
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=19642
http://news10now.com/story.asp?ArID=19689
http://www.rochesterdandc.com/news/0527AJ4DBNP_news.shtml

Still looking for evidence other than the confession... I can't even find anything that tells why the police would be asking about rape. Again, not claiming he is innocent, but it certainly doesn't make sense.

http://www.courttv.com/news/2004/0527/dad_ap.html
"Lucie confessed to the rape after a six-hour interrogation in October, but he later recanted. He said the confession was coerced by police, who threatened to arrest his wife and take away his four younger sons if he didn't admit to the sexual attack."

I don't get why the police where asking him to admit to a sexual attack if there was no evidence of one.

I know I'm in no place to make a judgment either way but there must be something else besides a recanted statement - whether or not it was coerced is almost beside the point, the prosecutor couldn't find anyone to speak against him or his character, nor did they have any other evidence.

[kpp_kpp]

see message 145

[cyncooper]

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?

Don't forget the sodomy. Those dastardly KGB-like police "made" him confess in detail to more than just rape.

Unbelievable. Here in America!

/sarcasm

[CharacterCounts]

nor did they have any other evidence.

I doubt this is true. But if it is then there is nothing to worry about because the case will be reversed on appeal. The law does not permit a conviction based solely upon a confession. To convict there must be other evidence sufficient to convict the defendant.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Thank you. That's exactly what I've been trying to say.

[NCSteve]

According to the prosecution and the Syracuse Police Department, in his written confession, Lucie described in great detail raping and sodomizing his daughter.

You highlighted the wrong clause. Apparently this confession never made it into the public record. Heresay, counselor, pure heresay.

[cyncooper]

Still looking for evidence other than the confession

Well, the trial lasted 8 days. I sat on a jury for second degree murder that "only" took 5. They must have been presenting something to the jury over that time.

[Cronos]

Hand him over to alQaeda

[cyncooper]

I don't get why the police where asking him to admit to a sexual attack if there was no evidence of one.

It appears to me he volunteered this information.

[monday]

"I missed this in the thread. Can you point me to it please?"

See the link on post #54.

[cyncooper]

You highlighted the wrong clause. Apparently this confession never made it into the public record.

Of course, I did not highlight the wrong clause since the jury was presented with the written confession.

From the same article:

The focus today has been on Lucie's written confession

~snip~

Motions by the defense to suppress the confession were denied

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Ah! I knew it!

Those homeschoolers ruin EVERYTHING!

</sarcasm>

Seriously, was there ANY need for that article to mention the homeschooling? If the situation were reversed, do you think they'd mention that the kids go to public school?

Just watch...this will turn into an anti-homeschool hit piece.

[NCSteve]

...and the man has been *convicted*...

I certainly hope you are never falsely accused of anything. Given your apparent faith in the infallibility of the criminal justice system and our courts, it will certainly come as a big surprise to you when the jury of your peers convicts you.

No one posting here has enough information to pass judgment on this case. However given the information we have, IMO, reasonable doubt exists. If I had been on the jury and this was the breadth and depth of the information I had, I would never have voted to convict and I believe there is a good possibility that the jury here acted emotionally and not objectively.

Just to be clear, if the guy is guilty, I believe he should be publicly drawn and quartered, literally. However, if he is innocent, no amount of reparation will ever make up for the travesty.

[quack]

Really bad reporting over all.Some articles say he recanted before giving a videotaped confession,but other reports say the jury went back and looked at the video tape to look for any coercing.Was a video monitor in the room while he wrote his statement or did he indeed give a videotaped confession?

Also,the articles say she was raped and sodomized.One can be raped and sodomized orally.It doesn't necessarily mean he had anal intercourse with her,so there wouldn't be any injuries to her vagina or rectum.

Is the media simply speculating what sodomy means in this situation or have I missed all this information?

[CyberAnt]

And .. HIS WIFE DEFENDED HIM.

I don't know how a mother can defend a person who does that to her child .. this is beyond my comprehension.

[monday]

"Yes, I'm sure the police here acted just like the KGB."

Interrogation is similar the world over. Ironically it is often the most distressing to the innocent. If you are innocent one has the initial instinct to help your interrogators. You become confused and disoriented if your interrogators don't believe you.

People who are falsely accused and who have had no previous experience with the criminal justice system report that feelings of unreality sweep over them. They are completely unprepared to defend themselves from false accusations because all of their previous beliefs in the infallibility and essential righteousness of the criminal justice system tell them that what they are experiencing must be some kind of terrible mistake.

Often the easily confused sign confessions because they become unsure themselves if they are sane or not.

Detailed confessions come about from suggestion. An Interrogator asks, "did such and such happen"? If the accused wants to please his interrogator, not an uncommon occurrence, the accused simply says yes. This then becomes part of his confession.

I hope you are never falsely accused of a crime. Your belief in the essential justness of police interrogation methods may make you especially vulnerable.