Theodore Wafer, the Detroit-area man convicted of second degree murder for the shogun killing of a very drunk Renisha McBride on his front porch in the early morning hours of November 2, 2013, has been sentenced to 17 to 32 years in prison, according to a report by the Indiana Gazette.
We covered Wafer’s trial closely here at Legal Insurrection.
This sentence, handed down by trial and sentencing judge Dana Hathaway, was the recommendation of the prosecution and appears to be the maximum permitted. The 17 year threshold is when Wafer first becomes eligible for parole.
For the 55-year-old Wafer, ailing after a lifetime spent working primarily as a laborer, the sentence means he will 72 years old before release is even possible. His lawyer, Cheryl Carpenter, had argued that given his poor health any sentence in excess of 10 years was effectively a “death sentence.”
Given an opportunity to make a statement at sentencing, an emotional Wafer said that he had killed a woman who was “too young to leave this world,” and that he “will carry that guilt and sorrow forever.”
–-Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
Andrew F. Branca is an MA lawyer and the author of the seminal book “The Law of Self Defense, 2nd Edition,” available at the Law of Self Defense blog (autographed copies available) and Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle). He holds many state-specific Law of Self Defense Seminars around the country, and produces free online self-defense law educational video- and podcasts at the Law of Self Defense University.
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