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Does The Motivation Really Matter?
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This guy cut a woman's throat while trying to rape her. And after several rounds of courts overturning his sentence because of questions about the guidelines used to determine it, a judge has now ruled that his life prison sentence is unfair because he did not show deliberate cruelty to the victim. Let's consider that for a second. He tried to rape her. He slit her throat. THAT'S NOT DELIBERATELY CRUEL?!? Here's the (female) judge's reasoning: He only brutally slit her throat to KEEP HER FROM REPORTING THE RAPE. And that, the judge says, was "not gratuitous." She says his motivation wasn't a desire to kill but merely "self-preservation." And because of that, she might let him go free. (The Oregonian; Thanks to Bob Miller at KPAM/Portland for the link)
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