Word: herrin
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Those protections do not extend to other crimes. Indeed, Litman first made a name for himself in 1977 by getting a conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter for Richard Herrin, a Yale graduate who killed his girlfriend Bonnie Garland with a hammer. "It was suggested," says her father Paul bitterly, "that she was a manipulative, rich, spoiled person who didn't treat this lovely man who murdered her nicely." Garland, a New York attorney, is working for the spread of legislation that gives victims the right to a voice at bail hearings and with the prosecution before a plea...
...seek compensation for pain and suffering. Surviving relatives can also sue for the financial support that they have lost. Last month a federal judge in New York approved still another approach. The case grew out of the notorious 1977 hammer killing of Yale Student Bonnie Garland by Richard Herrin, her jealous exboyfriend. The judge upheld a jury award of $30,000 to the parents against Herrin, ruling that he recklessly caused severe emotional distress. Says Bonnie's mother Joan: "Now a criminal can't 'I have no responsibility for the damage I've done...
...victory against an indigent criminal like Herrin is often largely symbolic. Says Boston Attorney F. Lee Bailey: "Violent criminal defendants are generally penniless. You seldom collect." There are exceptions. Some infamous criminals have earned nest eggs by writing, or selling the rights to, their stories. Happily, it is becoming harder for these criminals to profit from their misdeeds. Fifteen states, including New Jersey last week, have adopted so-called Son of Sam laws, named for Multiple Murderer David Berkowitz, which lock up proceeds from books and other ventures to satisfy claims by victims or their survivors. One such moneyed killer...
Once victims consider it necessary to file suits and bring subsidiary charges to punish perpetrators adequately, the idea of "punishment to fit the crime" has blurred beyond recognition. If Herrin begins to think he's being punished not because he killed Bonnie Garland but because funeral and medical costs were high, the already much-debated effect of a jail term on future actions will be further confused...
...Garlands' long struggle with the courts to put Herrin in jail may explain and even excuse their desire to hit him as hard as they can. But it would be a shame if the sympathy they deserve obscured the perception that lies behind their suit, that a criminal penalty somehow cannot punish "enough." It's all very well for murderers to have to foot the bill for funerals they caused, but that's not one of the hardier deterrents to a crime of passion...