posted August 05, 2005 11:04 PM
Are you kidding me?!
Mother who gave pot to toddler sentenced
By CLAIR JOHNSON - Billings Gazette Staff - 8/05/05
Calling the crime ‘‘repugnant,'' a federal judge Wednesday sentenced a former Gardiner woman to five years in prison for encouraging her toddler daughter to smoke marijuana.
‘‘Sixty months is an appropriate sentence in this case,'' Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom told Jessica Lynne Durham, 24, currently of Washington.
U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull found Durham guilty in January of distributing marijuana to a person under the age of 18. Cebull's verdict came after a one-day trial on Oct. 27.
A key prosecution witness was Brandi Nichols, an admitted drug user who turned Durham in after taking photographs of her holding a water pipe while her 18-month-old daughter put her mouth over the top. The water pipe, called a bong, allows smoke to be drawn through water into a glass tube and inhaled.
Nichols gave law enforcement the photographs, which were admitted as evidence.
The incident occurred in February 2004 as Nichols was helping Durham move from Gardiner to Washington with her mother. Nichols testified that she entered Durham's residence, hugged the toddler and sat on the couch. On the floor next to the couch was a 2-foot bong.
Nichols said the toddler ran for the bong. When she tried to waive the toddler away, the child threw a fit.
Durham told Nichols that her daughter wanted the bong and proceeded to light the residue in the pipe. Durham sucked marijuana smoke into the pipe and gave the bong to her daughter, Nichols testified. ‘‘She (the toddler) put her mouth on it and took a big hit,'' she said.
Nichols then took a turn inhaling from the pipe, Durham smoked again and gave her baby the pipe again. Nichols testified she got a buzz from the smoke, went outside and got sick. ‘‘I was freaking out,'' she said.
Nichols went home and talked to her boyfriend about what had happened. He told her to return with a camera and take pictures because ‘‘nobody would believe us,'' she said. Nichols went back to Durham's with a camera and took pictures.
Durham did not testify at trial and the defense called no witnesses. She said nothing at her sentencing.
Federal defender Zachary Cain urged Shanstrom to sentence Durham to a year of probation with her conviction to be vacated if she successfully completed the term. He said the statute that applied dealt with personal-use quantities and that the maximum sentence by law was two years.
Cain further argued that no quantity of marijuana had been established and no tests were conducted on the residue. Tests on the child within days of the incident were negative for marijuana, he said.
Durham has been in drug treatment and has taken classes on domestic violence and parenting, Cain said.
Durham's daughter is in foster care, but Durham is working on getting her parental rights restored, Cain said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia Hurd said Durham deserved the maximum punishment, which in her interpretation of the law was 10 years in prison.
Durham admitted the offense to law enforcement officers and told them that smoking pot helped her daughter's appetite, Hurd said. Durham called her daughter ‘‘a little stoner,'' she said.
Shanstrom calculated a sentencing guideline range of 78 months to 97 months, which reflected enhancements because the child was very young and vulnerable, then sentenced Durham to five years in prison.
‘‘Jessica, this is a statute that is confusing, but I think punishment is necessary. The crime is one that is just repugnant,'' Shanstrom said. ‘‘You got a break to a certain extent.''
The judge allowed Durham to surrender to prison. She is appealing her case.
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/08/05/montana/c02080505_02.txt
Lindaland
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posted August 05, 2005 11:04 PM
posted August 05, 2005 11:17 PM
posted August 06, 2005 02:38 PM
posted August 07, 2005 09:55 AM
but WAOH!!! @ “helped appetite” & “little stoner”