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.
he is qualified to repel a squad of attacking figure skaters...
The liberal wing nuts at the CIA would enlist him in a heartbeat. Go apply there, learn catch phrases such as "bisma'llah" and you're in like Flynn!
Who knows, maybe he might find some ice-skaters in the desert towns of Iraq?
"this guy whacked a girl on the leg with a pipe"
That was what they finally decided to do, but people have forgotten that they also discussed killing her, running her over or slicing her achille's tendon. This guy ain't Tookie, but he's still missing something fundamental.
I don't know about his logic, but by my logic, 2 or 3 of Nancy's male relatives should have beaten this guy within an inch of his life.
Did you need a laugh today?
The article makes it sound like he has a promising career going in the Navy and just needs the incident cleared to get into Seal school. Hes light years from becoming a Seal. Hes not even a squid yet. Hes old. The Seal lines just a sob story. Sniff sniff, I just want to serve my country
Thats pathetic. Even with the conviction removed from his record, he has a better chance of winning the lottery.
Nancy was hardly a sympathetic character. Most crime is scum on scum, and this was pretty much true to form.
Different kettle of fish. Juvenile records are not released to the military.
The only exception to this WAS the Coast Guard, because of the federal law enforcement angle. The problem there was Coast Guard enlistments are fairly limited and most jurisdictions weren't aware of the legal distinction requiring them to release juvenile records.
Why would you put our honorable men and women at risk by having to depend on this scum??? In a dangerous situation, you have to COUNT on your "band of brothers"!!! He can go work as a contractor...if they'd have him.
And just how did Miss Kerrigan deserve to be assaulted?
You mean Nancy Kerrigan wasn't exactly Mother Theresa on skates? Not sure how that's really relevant.
I'm not saying this guy's a saint, or even a good person. All I'm saying is that he didn't kill anyone. He served his time, was released and hasn't reoffended, to my knowledge anyway. So I do make a distinction between him and a piece of garbage like Tookie
He was pretty adamant about being a felon, FWIW, and he made it pretty clear the Navy knew when he joined.
Or perhaps I misremember.
More importantly, the guy looks so much like Uncle Fester, it's all you can do to restrain yourself from asking him to put a lightbulb in his mouth.
No argument from me on that one.
Um, nope, sorry, not a lib. My boyfriend is though, a card-carrying ACLU member.
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