She gets two years of house arrest?! People get stiffer penalties for smoking a joint in some places. This woman literally got away with murder!
Quote:
Teacher spared prison in hit-and-run
Some believe race played role in sentence
TAMPA, FLORIDA (AP) -- A former elementary school dance teacher was sentenced to two years of house arrest early Saturday for speeding away after her car hit and killed two young brothers last year.
The boys' sobbing mother urged the judge to sentence Porter to the maximum three years in prison.
Malissa Wilkins said Porter, 29, should be punished for not stopping after hitting her sons, Bryant Wilkins, 13, and his 3-year-old brother, Durantae Caldwell.
"I want her to go to prison. I want her to see what it's like to lose someone," Wilkins said.
Circuit Judge Emmett Lamar Battles said he weighed Porter's clean police record and the "extreme trauma" she experienced during the crime in sentencing her to "community custody," which he described as "a stricter form of probation -- essentially house arrest."
Porter was also sentenced to three years probation, 500 hours of community service benefiting children and psychiatric treatment.
The boys were crossing a street from a park, where they had been playing with their siblings. An 8-year-old sister and 2-year-old brother were injured.
"No matter what we do in this courtroom, it doesn't matter because my kids are gone," Wilkins said, "Let my kids rest in peace."
Porter's attorney, Barry Cohen, told the judge that his client's "brain shut down" after the accident and she was scared to stop.
Michael Gamache, a forensic psychologist called by Cohen, said Porter's history of panic attacks led her to leave the scene of the accident. "In my opinion, that is what predisposed her to react in this way," Gamache said.
The marathon sentencing hearing began Friday morning and ended about about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Porter is white and her victims were black, and some in the black community say she has been treated leniently because of her race and economic background.
"Three years? C'mon," Keith Kirk told the St. Petersburg Times last August. "You know if it was a black man, he'd be locked up. It's a white girl with money. They say money talks."
Porter pleaded guilty August 30 to leaving the scene of the March 31, 2004, accident. She could have faced a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
She was previously offered a plea deal that would have sent her to prison for three years, but her attorney said she decided to plead guilty and hope the judge would give her a lighter sentence.
The children were struck by Porter as they returned home from a community center near the newly opened elementary school where Porter was working.
She drove to her parents' home and did not come forward for five days. She said a white van had struck the children first, throwing them into her car, but investigators concluded the van was not involved.
She has said she did not stop because she was too scared.
Medical examiner reports said the boys died instantly. Witnesses said the 3-year-old was dragged about 150 feet.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Cal Henderson has said his office had received calls from some people complaining that Porter was not facing more serious charges. But officials said to warrant a vehicular homicide charge, prosecutors would have had to prove at least two violations, other than leaving the scene.
Investigators estimated that she was driving sis to 10 mph over the posted 30 mph speed limit, but they could not find a second traffic violation.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
eter, aka 
usty 
halk