Looking Forward: Will Gabrielle Giffords Testify Against Jared Loughner in Court?
Author: Jon Martin | Thursday, January 20th, 2011 |
The narrative of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting has been quite moving. Whether it was Obama’s speech to Tucson, that seemed to turn into a pep rally to remember the fallen victims, or Giffords husband’s constant updates of her condition, America is paying attention and everyone is cheering for Giffords.
Doctors say that her recovery is “not usual” and she is making progress everyday. Earlier today, it was reported that she is using an
IPad and trying to speak. This is somewhat bizarre for someone who was shot in the head a little over a week and a half ago. With this speedy recovery, will it actually be possible for Gifford’s to look into the face of Jared Loughner at his trial?
Of course, she won’t be her old self, that’s for sure, she probably won’t look the same either.. but just imagine the feeling Loughner will get as the ONLY person he wanted to kill that day, shows up in court to help send him to death. I’m not sure if Giffords will have recovered enough to do this, but throwing Loughner a smile from across the room, right before he’s sentenced, would be a very sweet revenge. Testifying against an attacker after they have disfigured their victim is not uncommon, humans can survive a suprising amount of abuse.
Esperanza Medina
Earlier this year, a botched acid attack on a woman named Esperanza Medina left her face disfigured. The attack was planned by two women, unfortunately for them, Medina wasn’t too disfigured to testify.
The women that attacked Medina did so because she was dating a man that both had been involved with. The sulfuric acid concoction left Medina with burns over 25% of her body.
Instead of backing down or covering her face, Medina showed up in court, disfigurements in plain view, to testify against her attackers. Medina says that she rarely goes outside and only shows her face to her doctors, who are attempting multiple skin-grafts.
“I didn’t care any more what people looked at me,” said Medina. “I know I’m beautiful, and I really don’t care any more.”
Medina is someone that didn’t back away from her attackers and made her disfigurment a big part of her trial. If she had hidden her face and jurors could not have seen the damage, the punishment might not have been as severe. Medina’s attackers were found guilty of heinous battery, which carries the maximum sentence of 45 years.
Carmen Tarleton
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In Vermont, a man threw lye on his wife’s face. Lye is a caustic chemical used in some cleaning products. It is poisonous and very corrosive and very dangerous. The lye burned around 80% of the woman’s body and only 40% has been recovered with surgery. Carmen, the woman burned in the attack took her husband to court after he claimed he was “not guilty”.
Carmen said words cannot express the feeling of being called unrecognizable and to hear warning on television when here image is shown.
Fifty-three-year-old Herbert Rodgers, who pleaded not guilty in the June 2007 attack, entered a guilty plea and was sentenced at the proceeding in Vermont District Court in Chelsea. He was charged with maiming, first-degree aggravated domestic assault, burglary and domestic assault.
Conclusion:
If Gabrielle Giffords can go to court and successfully testify against Loughner, it would make for a really incredible story. Even if she can’t though, the path she has been set on his amazing and has the chance to change American politics in a positive way. The Gabrielle Giffords saga has turned the right-wing media on it’s head, as it now has to deal with it’s dangerous rhetoric. That is one change that has already happened, time will tell how far Giffords influence will stretch as she continues to recover.
- Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot in the Head, Survives
- Bill O’Reilly Attacks Paul Krugman, says Fox News is not to blame for Gabrielle Giffords Shooting
- Rachel Maddow chastises left and right on Gifford Rhetoric (Video)
- Bill Maher: The Founding Fathers Would Have Hated the Tea-Bagger’s Guts (Video)
- Bill Maher says Republicans are partly responsible for Gifford’s Shooting (Video)
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