Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Gigi Jordan Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Death of Autistic Son
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/06/nyregion/gigi-jordan-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-in-death-of-autistic-son.htmlA woman who said she poisoned her disabled son to prevent him from being sexually abused was found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday after a two-month trial, as jurors decided against a murder conviction.
On its fifth day of deliberations, a jury of seven men and five women accepted the claims of the woman, Gigi Jordan, that she had acted in the throes of an “extreme emotional disturbance.”
Ms. Jordan, 53, sighed deeply but then showed little other emotion as the verdict was read at 10:48 a.m. She faces anywhere from five to 25 years in prison when sentenced; had she been convicted of murder, she would have faced a sentence of 25 years to life.
Despite having won the result she sought, Ms. Jordan intends to appeal the verdict, her lawyers said. She contends Justice Charles H. Solomon of State Supreme Court made several rulings that prevented her from presenting all the evidence supporting her contention that she killed her 8-year-old son, Jude Mirra, to prevent him from suffering sexual abuse. That evidence includes a rambling suicide note she wrote as her son lay dying, and testimony from an expert witness that her son’s symptoms of autism might have been caused by sexual abuse.
On its fifth day of deliberations, a jury of seven men and five women accepted the claims of the woman, Gigi Jordan, that she had acted in the throes of an “extreme emotional disturbance.”
Ms. Jordan, 53, sighed deeply but then showed little other emotion as the verdict was read at 10:48 a.m. She faces anywhere from five to 25 years in prison when sentenced; had she been convicted of murder, she would have faced a sentence of 25 years to life.
Despite having won the result she sought, Ms. Jordan intends to appeal the verdict, her lawyers said. She contends Justice Charles H. Solomon of State Supreme Court made several rulings that prevented her from presenting all the evidence supporting her contention that she killed her 8-year-old son, Jude Mirra, to prevent him from suffering sexual abuse. That evidence includes a rambling suicide note she wrote as her son lay dying, and testimony from an expert witness that her son’s symptoms of autism might have been caused by sexual abuse.
You'd think we were African Americans or something. 