Posted on 12/01/2005 8:56:49 PM PST by DuckFan4ever
PORTLAND --New developments in the Tonya Harding ice skating scandal.
Shane Stant, the man who hit Nancy Kerrigan in the knee, appeared in a Portland courtroom Thursday, trying to clear his record so he can become a Navy Seal. Stant doesn't have the name or face recognition as the other players in the infamous scandal do, but he is the one who attacked Kerrigan and when she heard he was trying to clear his name Thursday, she fought back.
What started as a surprise attack on a star skater became one of the more memorable news stories of the 1990s.
It turned out to be a plot involving Kerrigan's rival, Portland skater Tonya Harding, her husband Jeff Gillooly, her bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt and an Arizona bounty hunter named Shane Stant.
Stant confessed to hitting Kerrigan with a metal baton and pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge. A Multnomah county judge sentenced him to a year and a half in prison.
Eleven years later Stant was back in court trying to get that felony off his record, making him eligible to be a Navy Seal.
"I feel like this is something I really want to do. I want to serve my country," Stant said.
Prosecutors argued Stant's crime isn't the kind that can be erased from someone's record. And Kerrigan had something to say about his request.
In a letter she said it would be "unfair" if Stant's felony charge was "swept under the carpet" because she wrote, "…the attack by Mr. Stant and his cohorts remains something that I must live with on a regular basis."
The judge denied Stant's request.
"We all make mistakes. We make bad decisions," Stant said.
A disappointed Stant says it's unfortunate he's still paying for his 1994 crime.
"I think people should have a chance to redeem themselves. You make a mistake, you can't be held down. There really aren't a lot of opportunities for ex-felons," Stant said.
And while what he did still haunts him, he admits it also has helped.
"When you're open to doing something like I've done, it means your open to other things. I'm really lucky I'm not in prison. I'm lucky I'm not dead. I'm really blessed in that way. I've learned a lot from that. I'm a wiser man today than I was yesterday. I'm trying to use it the best I can," Stant said.
Stant told us he lives in southern California and works in sales. Since that 1994 arrest, he has not been in trouble and says he doesn't keep in touch with any of the people from his past.
Kind of cannon fodder against the jihadists?
Isn't Shane Stant, at age 35, and with no military service, thinking he could become a seal, a bit of a stretch?
Of course, that makes way too much sense for today's PC "one mistake" military........
Um, Tookie killed people and founded the crips, this guy whacked a girl on the leg with a pipe. Following your logic, should this guy have gotten te death penalty for assaulting Kerrigan?
If he's 35, he's completely missed the military bus (unless he was a nurse or an MD). I think the maximum age of enlistment is 29 - BUT if he had a prior tour of active duty (say ages 18-22) then he might be permitted to reenlist up to an older age - if it wasn't for the small matter of that felony conviction.....
Poeple can apply for waivers to enlistment but not for circumstances anywhere near felony level. The military isn't structured to handle "individuals", but to train and indoctrinate groups who mean common basic standards. It would become too complicated otherwise.
And you, my friend, are 100% correct.
This sleeze bucket of a man was a low-level, for-hire thug. That makes him unworthy of a security clearance and a liability to whatever unit he would be assigned to.
Never knowing who paid him off today, he dam sure isn't welcome anywhere near my foxhole.
A mistake or bad decision is trying to make it through a yellow light before it turns red. This was not a mistake; it was an assault.
Felony assault is far more then a simple mistake. Today's Armed Forces is a volunteer force of professionals with high standards and strong core values. It isn't an employment agency or rehabilitation center.
Um, Tookie killed people and founded the crips, this guy whacked a girl on the leg with a pipe. Following your logic, should this guy have gotten te death penalty for assaulting Kerrigan?
What??? Words from a true lieberal!
The Seals won't accept a man who tried to cripple a woman by hitting her in the knee.
"On my last ship, the XO was a convicted felon before he joined up. Armed robbery. Now, he's a LCDR. No, I'm not kidding."
How do you know this?
"Isn't Shane Stant, at age 35, and with no military service, thinking he could become a seal, a bit of a stretch?"
Not just a stretch. It's Fantasy Island.
Tattoo: "What's his fantasy boss."
Mr. Roarke: "He is a convicted felon who wants to become a Navy Seal, even though the doesn't have Coast Guard certification to operate small craft. But hell, everything on Fantasy Island is possible."
What was the felony? It must have been sweet!!!!
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