This is a complete failure of the legal system, it makes me livid to think that someone can get away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist while the victim will spend the rest of his life in his own prison.
Beach judge orders dancer to serve four months for assault | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
Hanna Whipple got four years in prison, but the judge suspended all but four months, noting she had a minor criminal record and that she had endured a vicious assault moments before the crash.
By Shawn Day
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 21, 2009
VIRGINIA BEACH
An exotic dancer convicted of using her SUV last summer to run over two men was ordered today to serve four months in jail.
Circuit Judge William R. "Buster" O'Brien formally sentenced Hanna Whipple to four years in prison. He suspended all but four months, noting she had a minor criminal record and that she had endured a vicious assault moments before the crash.
State sentencing guidelines recommended she serve three to six months. She has been jailed since Aug. 5, when O'Brien convicted her on unlawful wounding and assault charges.
Whipple, 29, and her partner were hired to dance at a bachelor party in The Cosmopolitan Apartments at Town Center on Aug. 23, 2008. They said they tried to leave when someone ignored their instructions not to take photos. As they left, one of the partygoers attacked Whipple, according to testimony.
Whipple and her partner eventually escaped and made it to her SUV in a nearby parking garage. When she saw the groom and a friend, she plowed into them, then backed up and hit the friend again, according to testimony.
Neither of the victims had assaulted Whipple or her partner. Andrew King, the friend who suffered a shattered hip and other major injuries, walked into court today with a cane. He testified his doctor had told him that despite being 35 years old, he has the "body of an 85-year-old."
"For me, this is for the rest of my life, and I didn't do anything to anybody," King said. He is unable to pick up his child or go for walks with his wife like he once did, he said.
He shook his head as the judge sentenced Whipple.
"I'm crippled for the rest of my life," he said, "and this (woman) gets off on time served."
Beach judge orders dancer to serve four months for assault | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
Hanna Whipple got four years in prison, but the judge suspended all but four months, noting she had a minor criminal record and that she had endured a vicious assault moments before the crash.
By Shawn Day
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 21, 2009
VIRGINIA BEACH
An exotic dancer convicted of using her SUV last summer to run over two men was ordered today to serve four months in jail.
Circuit Judge William R. "Buster" O'Brien formally sentenced Hanna Whipple to four years in prison. He suspended all but four months, noting she had a minor criminal record and that she had endured a vicious assault moments before the crash.
State sentencing guidelines recommended she serve three to six months. She has been jailed since Aug. 5, when O'Brien convicted her on unlawful wounding and assault charges.
Whipple, 29, and her partner were hired to dance at a bachelor party in The Cosmopolitan Apartments at Town Center on Aug. 23, 2008. They said they tried to leave when someone ignored their instructions not to take photos. As they left, one of the partygoers attacked Whipple, according to testimony.
Whipple and her partner eventually escaped and made it to her SUV in a nearby parking garage. When she saw the groom and a friend, she plowed into them, then backed up and hit the friend again, according to testimony.
Neither of the victims had assaulted Whipple or her partner. Andrew King, the friend who suffered a shattered hip and other major injuries, walked into court today with a cane. He testified his doctor had told him that despite being 35 years old, he has the "body of an 85-year-old."
"For me, this is for the rest of my life, and I didn't do anything to anybody," King said. He is unable to pick up his child or go for walks with his wife like he once did, he said.
He shook his head as the judge sentenced Whipple.
"I'm crippled for the rest of my life," he said, "and this (woman) gets off on time served."
