A Man's Life = $2500

In Richmond, at least. Last week, a jury convicted a police officer of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a motorist during a traffic stop. The officer claimed self defense. A first jury hung on murder charges, and he was reindicted on voluntary manslaughter. After the conviction, the jury recommended that the officer be punished by only a $2500 fine – no time in prison. Given that the officer faced up to 10 years in prison, the sentence was exceptionally light.

The victim in this case was black, which caused the local chapters of the NAACP rightly to express their outrage. A twist in the case was that the jury was equally divided by race – 6 white, 6 black – but returned a unanimous sentencing recommendation.

On a gut level, I’m appalled that 12 people would think a $2500 fine is a sufficient punishment for taking another human being’s life (a successful wrongful death suit would likely result in a larger damage award). The self defense argument obviously didn’t fly, or else the officer would have been acquitted. From an “I’m a defense lawyer” level, I wonder if this kind of leniency is typical of jury sentencing in Virginia, of if it cuts against the defendant more often than not.