George Huguely has been convicted of murdering Yeardley Love, every media outlet on the planet reports. After only a day’s deliberation, the jury convicted the former UVA student of second-degree murder for his role in the 2010 death of his girlfriend and fellow UVA lacrosse player. It became clear over the course of the two-week trial that a conviction was likely, but as unflattering portraits of both the accused and the victim emerged, with UVA’s culture of functional student alcoholism front and center, the speculation boiled down to whether Huguely would be convicted of first-degree murder, or second-degree murder. Huguely’s legal team presented alternate theories about the cause of Love’s death—without seriously challenging the notion that Huguely beat her terribly—including that she was smothered by passing out on a pillow soaked in her own blood and that she fatally combined alcohol and her ADD medication, presumably to create doubt in the minds of jurors that Huguely’s actions were the sole cause of Love’s death. The case captured the attention of national media, with dozens of journalists and their crews camping out at the courthouse for the trial.
Next up: Sentencing. Huguely is facing the possibility of life in prison.
10:50 PM Update: He’s been sentenced to 26 years in prison.
Trucks and tents and cameras go away now.
“…every media outlet on the planet reports…”
Oh hold up.
I, for one, am withholding judgement until ECHO weighs in.
Well, George’s moon was in retrograde mars so the raellian pet psychics easily mind melded their magnetized hematite into a fifth chakra vibration of imbalance…
Sentenced, or received a recommended sentence? Hope Yeardleys death is an instructive lesson in young ladies to verbally say “No,” once, then say “no” the second time with a knee to the junk.
If the first does not get a guys attention, you can bet the second will.
The fact that you ask that question tells me that it’s probably the latter. :)
danpri — good job blaming the victim! if only the young women of today would learn not to get violently assaulted…
@James. Get a grip bubba. Not blaming the vic, but CLEARLY stating that if you allow yourself to be repeatedly victimized don’t be surprised if the outcome is not good. Suggesting that people learn from the tragedy.
But hey, ask Waldo what would happen to him the second time he gave his wife a whack….hell, ask him what would happen the first time.
Fool me once…
IMO, we have to be able to hold two seemingly contradictory thoughts in our minds simultaneously. We have to be able to say “that person did a terrible thing and is at fault for this tragedy” AND ALSO “girls, there are things you can do to lessen your risk of falling prey like she did.” I have a daughter; I’m absolutely going to tell her “if a boyfriend ever hits you, take these steps.” That doesn’t mean I think Yeardley Love brought that tragedy on herself, or that Huguely wasn’t 100% responsible for her death.
I had the same thoughts following Morgan Harrington’s disappearance and death. If someone murdered her, then that is the person who is responsible, and she is the victim. But that won’t stop me from telling my daughter not to get so drunk and wasted that bad people could take advantage of her.
I guess I feel that I have very little control over the bad people in the world, and what I do (think I) have control over is equipping my kids with survival skills to make them less vulnerable. But the bad people are still the bad people.
It’s *amazing* the lengths that some people will go to to blame the victim. This girl was at home asleep in her own bed late at night when her ex-boyfriend — whom she was no longer seeing, and who was twice her size — arrived, kicked down the door, and beat her to death.
Exactly what was it that she did here that she wasn’t supposed to have done? Even asleep alone in her own bed, I guess she was still, on some level, “asking for it” in many peoples’ minds.
James! Get your facts straight! Yardley was not beaten to death. The medical examiner said she was alive for at least two hours after George left. And the cause of death was suffocation. George is most likely guilty of her death. However, it was not 1st, 2nd or voluntary. Why? Because she was alive when he left. A fact the jury ignored. They also ignored the ten minutes of crying when George finally realized she had died. Also, the jury ignored Yardley’s state of dress. George said she had on a black t-shirt and panties. The police said they found her with no shirt on and the shirt was crumpled in a corner. Who took the shirt off. Either Yardley did or someone else did. But, not George. He had no reason to lie about this. My guess is it was Yardley. George should had been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. There was no malice involved for 2nd degree. She was alive when he left. Ian from the jury, said they gave him 2nd, because he wasn’t angry when he arrive, but emotional. Therefore the anger was his malice. But, again, she was alive when he left. Most people I’ve talked with believe he caused her death. Involuntarily.
BTW, the judge can only throw out, accept or reduce the sentence. He cannot increase it.
Cry me a river James. No one is saying she deserved it. They are saying that people need to make sure they are not put in a position to be vulnerable as a victim. They are saying use this as a lesson for others to provide something that can benefit others in a horrible situation.
But out of curiosity, how many time would you let me abuse you at a party before you ensured it did not happen again…if you could?
I think Steve has the most reasonable take on this. Certainly, that George Huguely kid was in dire need of mature male orientation rather than the college sports scene, and he’s definitely involved in the girl’s death, so should do some hard time, but I sense there’s some lynching mentality going on here.
The cause of death was “suffocation” only if you accepted opinion of the defense team’s (paid) expert witness. The state medical examiner, however, found that she died of blunt force trauma to the head. Not sure how you could be following the trial with any sort of careful attention and make that mistake, Steve.
“But, not George. He had no reason to lie about this.”
Well, except for that whole being on trail in one of the highest profile murder cases in a while and wanting to perhaps create reasonable doubt thing, yeah, no reason.
Beautiful rich white people’s problems…
More likely, than her fault, it’s his’n;
He’ll certainly spend years in prison.
While she’s in the grave,
So, please kindly save
Your petulant sneers and derision.
This is such a sad story. Nothing can bring her back and she had so much more to live.
He’s looking forward to decades of grey concrete.
There is not a person that is aware of this tragedy that doesn’t wish he could undo what he did.