January 25, 2008
The face of depraved indifference.
A drunk driver who killed a cyclist in Arizona has been sentenced to ten years in jail after a judge heard a recording in which she laughed over the man’s death. Melissa Arrington, a exotic dancer from Tucson, killed Paul L’Ecuyer in 2006 while driving drunk.
L’Ecuyer was riding his bike in a bicycle lane on December 1st, 2006 when Arrington swerved off the road and struck him, according to the Times Online. L’Ecuyer was thrown into the bed of Arrington’s pickup, where he died. Arrington drove another 800ft before stopping her car.
…..
Arrington, 27, was convicted of two counts of aggravated DUI and negligent homicide in L’Ecuyer’s death. At the time she hit the cyclist, Arrington was driving on a suspended license for a previous DUI conviction. Arrington could have received as little as four years behind bars for the conviction, if not for a recorded conversation Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank called “breathtaking in its inhumanity.”
The telephone conversation, recorded been Arrington and a male friend a week after L’Ecuyer’s death, featured her talking and laughing about the crash. The man in the recording said Arrington should get a “medal and a f**king parade” for taking out a “tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot.” He then said he knew it was “a terrible thing to say” but Arrington laughed and responded, “No, It’s not.”
After hearing the tape, Cruickshank sentenced Arrington to 10 1/2 years in jail, one year less than the maximum sentence for negligent homicide, according to the Times Online. Cruikshank said in his ruling that Arrington has yet to take responsibility for her actions in L’Ecuyer’s death.
I can only hope she serves her entire sentence. Someone with so little regard for human life simply doesn’t belong on the streets. Sadly, though, she won’t likely develop any in prison and she’ll come out just as she went in.
Filed under: Crime, Hate Speech, Homophobia
