Overriding a proposal for a lesser sentence, NH judge James O’Neill sentenced a Massachusetts man to 30-60 years for the repeated rape of a young relative. The girl was between 13 and 16 years old during her four-year ordeal.
Meanwhile, in Maine, Justice Thomas Delahanty was forced to decrease the sentence of former adoption caseworker Sally Schofield, who suffocated a 5-year old girl who was in her care, from 28 to 20 years.
Although she had bound the child to a chair with duct tape and covered her face, Schofield never once admitted her guilt, claiming alternately that the child had either become “wrapped up accidentally” or died of an “undiagnosed seizure disorder”.
The original sentence of 28 years was higher than state standards, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled last June that it had to be reduced. Imposition of the higher standards would have required a jury finding that the crime was “especially heinous”. Since Schofield waived her right to a jury trial, it was impossible to meet that standard.
Three of the seven SJC courts dissented from the majority, which tells you that there are 3 people on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court who possess a modicum of common sense.