A judge erred by allowing the mother of the victim of a fatal shooting to address the court before the sentencing of a defendant who had been acquitted by a jury of manslaughter but convicted of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, the Appellate Division, Third Department, has held. In People v. Sheppard, 103880/104958, the appeals court said there was no "victim" in the crime for which Tarrant Sheppard was convicted and in the interest of justice, vacated the 3½-to-seven-year prison sentence for weapons possession. The panel sent the matter back to Tompkins County Court for resentencing.
The trial judge, John Rowley (See Profile), allowed Enrique Chavez's mother to speak at Sheppard's sentencing hearing. But Justice Elizabeth Garry (See Profile) wrote for the unanimous appeals panel that Rowley was in error because Sheppard's conviction of the weapons possession charge was based on evidence "wholly separate" from the circumstances surrounding Chavez's death, and Chavez's mother did not represent a crime victim entitled to address the court.
