Assistant District Attorney Patrick Shuler said Turner’s behavior toward Lawson was “barabic” and malicious but noted that he had no prior convictions, and requested a total of 30 years with 18 served in custody. Defense attorney Amanda Clark Palmer requested 8 years in custody.
But Gosselin suggested her sentencing must serve as a warning to anyone in the community who might commit violence in the home.
“Right now the issues of domestic violence cases in particular are so many people in the community have absolutely no idea what goes on in somebody’s home,” she said. “That is a continuing problem for that particular victim and for other people in the future, and I have to take that into account when I’m sentencing. I don’t want anybody else or Ms. Lawson to ever have to be subjected to that again, and the only way I know how to do that is to fashion a sentence that both punishes and hopes for rehabilitation.”
Gosselin added: “When I sentence a case like this, I try to call on my history of sentencing in similar cases. … Anytime you shoot somebody it’s one of the worst domestic violence cases, unless somebody dies.”
Under the conditions of probation, Turner would be required to attend a family violence intervention program, be evaluated for mental health issues, follow any treatment recommended and stay away from alcohol and drugs.
Earlier in the trial, Lawson said that Turner drank only occasionally and that the source of his rage and abuse…
