Judge refuses to alter veteran's sentence in fatal crash
HOLLIDAYSBURG (AP) - A judge in central Pennsylvania refused to modify the sentence he imposed in a fatal crash, including provisions that the defendant carry the victim's picture and place flowers on her grave.
Jennifer Sloan, 34, of Cresson, an Iraq war veteran who said she turned to alcohol due to post-traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced in Blair County in December to 2 1/2 to five years in prison in the April 2013 death of 58-year-old Connie Naylor, of Dysart.
Sloan had lost her license due to drunken driving convictions but drove anyway, and wasn't legally drunk, but was driving more than 80 mph at the time of the fatal crash.
Defense attorney Thomas Dickey challenged the length of the prison sentence, calling it "unreasonable and manifestly excessive," The (Altoona) Mirror (http://bit.ly/1PNeqNy ) reported.
The judge also included special provisions that Sloan always carry of photograph of the victim, place flowers on her grave on the anniversary of the crash and donate $100 each year to the Women's Health Center in Ebensburg. Dickey also challenged those requirements, calling them "wholly and irrationally disproportionate to the crime."
The judge on Friday refused to alter his sentence, saying in a 14-page opinion that he believes the conditions he imposed were "fair and appropriate." He said repeatedly that he was not intending to punish Sloan but to remind her of the poor decisions she had made and to motivate her to seek alcohol treatment and counseling so she can be healthy and will no longer pose "a serious and substantial risk to safety of herself and others."
The defense argued that her actions stemmed from her service in the Air Force in Iraq, but First Assistant District Attorney Jackie Bernard argued that her actions showed a need for rehabilitation programs offered in the state prison system and that society needed to be protected from her.
After Sullivan's decision, Bernard said in a statement that "It is incomprehensible that she would even quibble about putting flowers on the grave of the woman that she killed."
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Information from: Altoona Mirror,