Tonya Harding to serve 10 days in jail

katu.com ^ | 8-08-02 | Steven DuBois

[Salvation]

August 8, 2002

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Tonya Harding to serve 10 days in jail

CAMAS, WASH. - By STEVEN DU BOIS
Associated Press Writer

Tonya Harding was sentenced to 10 days in jail Thursday for drinking alcohol while on probation.

In court, the former Olympic figure skater said her arrest for drunken driving forced her to re-examine her life and was the best thing that could have happened to her.

"I'm grateful to the judge for giving me this opportunity; I finally found out what my problem is: It's alcohol," Harding said after the brief hearing.

"I'm glad it happened so no one gets hurt, I don't get hurt and I'm making something right in my life for a change."

Harding is scheduled to start her sentence Aug. 20. Her lawyer, Steven Thayer, asked Judge Darvin Zimmerman to let Harding do her time in isolation. He presented a letter from a doctor saying Harding suffers from panic attacks.

The judge took no action on the matter. It's unclear if the detention center in Vancouver, Wash., is equipped to shield celebrities from other prisoners.

In April, Harding was behind the wheel of her truck when it veered off the road and crashed into a ditch. Harding failed a field sobriety test and her blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.16 - twice the legal limit in Washington.

The accident happened when Harding had less than a month to go on her two-year probation for hitting a boyfriend with a hubcap. As part of her probation, she was not allowed to consume alcohol.

She acknowledged violating that condition when she pleaded guilty Monday to drunken driving and was ordered to enter a treatment program for alcoholics.

Zimmerman could have sentenced Harding to more than 5½ months in jail. Instead, he gave her 30 days, with 20 of them suspended if she completes 12 hours of classes for troubled young adults.

"I hope you're sincere and things work out better for you," the judge said.

After the hearing, Camas Assistant City Attorney Shawn MacPherson said he was "satisfied that justice was done."

Harding's attorney said the sentence was fair and wouldn't hinder the progress his client is making in treatment.

"She's gone 10 days, not 10 months," he said.

The two-time U.S. champion was convicted in 1994 of hindering prosecution in a plot to injure rival Nancy Kerrigan during the U.S. championships in Detroit. Harding also was banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[Salvation]

Discussion follows! LOL!

[Whey]

What a skank.

[razorback-bert]

Billy Joel got sober in ten days, I guess Tanya can too.

[connectthedots]

Her lawyer, Steven Thayer, asked Judge Darvin Zimmerman to let Harding do her time in isolation. He presented a letter from a doctor saying Harding suffers from panic attacks

Thayer is very well connected with the judges in Clark County. You commit a crime and hire Thayer; you will walk or get a very, very light sentence. Too many of his clients get off on technicalities. Clark County is extremely corrupt. I will be posting more about this subject in the next few days. It will eventually be very, very big news.

[Benson_Carter]

bump for shedding some light on a judicial system that is, in a lot of cases, rotten to the core.

[unsycophant]

The last I knew, Tonya was being evicted from her home. At least she will have a roof over her head for 10 days.

We are a forgiving people normally, but for some reason she doesn't come across as being hard to like or empathize with. And, every time she is given an opportunity to get her act together, she gets it wrong-again, and again.

[AntiScumbag]

I will be posting more about this subject

please gimme a ping when you do, it seems like it's been years (i know it hasn't, it just seems like it) since i saw anything new on your case(s)

and good luck fighting city (/county/state/federal) hall

[glock rocks]

I will be posting more about this subject in the next few days.

i'll look forward to an update (is this more about your case that we discussed last year?)

[connectthedots]

It is directly related to my case, which I have not posted about in over a year, for reasons I will explain when I post something next week. It will be a big announcement. The news will be good to possibly great.

[archy]

What a skank.

Yeah, but consider what a truly Olympic-class Whitehouse intern she'd have made....

[archy]

The news will be good to possibly great.

Kindly include me on the pings for the coming announcement as well.

-archy-/-

[archy]

Former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding
speaks as attorney Steven Thayer, right, looks
on in the Camas Washougal Municipal Court in
Washougal, Wash. on Thursday, Aug 8, 2002.
Harding was sentenced Thursday to 10 days
detention for violating terms of her probation
from an earlier assault case. Harding was given
30 days detention, with 20 days suspended.

(AP Photo/John Gress)
- Aug 08 7:02 PM ET

Tonya Harding appears with her attorney, Jon McMullen,
during her court appearance on probation violation
Thursday, June 27, 2002, at the Camas Washougal
Municipal Court in Washougal, Wash. Harding drove
drunk and has a problem with alcohol, she admitted
in a Vancouver courtroom, Monday, Aug. 5, 2002,
as part of a deal that lets her avoid a conviction if
she stays out of trouble for five years.

(AP Photo/John Gress, Pool)
- Aug 05 6:49 PM ET

[Consort]

She has a tendency towards knee-jerk reactions.

[connectthedots]

Jon McMullen is one of the most inept attorneys in town and will sell his client down the river in a heartbeat if the prosecutor is prosecuting an accused for political reasons.

[archy]

Jon McMullen is one of the most inept attorneys in town and will sell his client down the river in a heartbeat if the prosecutor is prosecuting an accused for political reasons.

That's why I figured the posting of the second photo with him named and identified in the cutline was worth posting, since he wasn't mentioned in the source article.

-archy-/-

[archy]

She has a tendency towards knee-jerk reactions.

And she certainly doesn't kneed any more adverse publicity, thank you very much!

[SamAdams76]

"I'm grateful to the judge for giving me this opportunity; I finally found out what my problem is: It's alcohol," Harding said after the brief hearing.

Keep searching Tonya. It ain't the liquor.

[grumpster-dumpster]

"I'm grateful to the judge for giving me this opportunity; I finally found out what my problem is: It's alcohol," Harding said after the brief hearing."

I'm so overjoyed Tanya has finally found the root cause of all her problems. We should all now quietly reflect on how we have villified this living saint without giving her the benefit of acknowledging her problem was not her fault in the least. OH, THE HORRORS OF DEAMON RUM!

Yes, my fellow Freepers, let us no longer ridicule this noteworthy and heroic individual! She has earned our undying respect and gratitude for her courage to face the very incarnate of evil...LIQUID SATAN!

I vow from this day forward to publically acknowledge that Tanya's problem was not that she was a vapid and ignorant slut with a out-of-control sense of worthyness leading to violent physical outbursts and conspiracies of violence directed at her competion... No! I will acknowledge here that Tanya's problem was not within herself, but was the fault of those nasty beer-barons who in league with the gin-mills forced gallons of the DISTILLED DEATH down her poor throat!

(Note: Is it possible to put a "barf-alert" on ones own reply?)

[Just another Joe]

Zimmerman could have sentenced Harding to more than 5½ months in jail. Instead, he gave her 30 days, with 20 of them suspended if she completes 12 hours of classes for troubled young adults.

YOUNG?

[Eagle Eye]

Watch your mouth!

That's MISS Tonya to you. And stand when you say it.

I always did like my wimmin a little on the trashy side.