The attorney for a Vermont woman who shot and killed a state social worker and three relatives says his client was penalized for being an abuse victim.
The Times Argus reports Jody Herring was sentenced to life without parole in November after her conviction in the deaths of Department for Children and Families worker Lara Sobel and three of Herring's relatives. State law requires Herring's case to be appealed to the state Supreme Court because of her life sentence.
Herring's attorney, Joshua O'Hara, argues that Superior Court Judge John Pacht unfairly sentenced his client to life without parole, penalizing her "for being the victim of a lifetime of abuse."
The state argues Pacht "reasonably exercised" discretion and the sentence was supported by evidence.
