Lane Garrison didn’t only play a prison inmate on TV, he may be playing one in real life. Friends of the teen killed in the crash that occured when Lance was driving under the influence, are petitioning for the maximum penalty.
The 3,600-signature petition urges that Garrison receive the maximum sentence of six years and eight months when he is sentenced Wednesday in Superior Court in Beverly Hills.
A bailiff refused to accept the petition but said it would be accepted at the hearing if it was submitted through the district attorney’s office, said James Lee, a spokesman for the teen’s family.
Garrison had a blood alcohol level of .20 percent when he accidentally drove his car, filled with teenagers, into a tree. While two teens survived, one was killed in the accident.
“Obviously, there’s a sense that people want closure and they want justice and they want an appropriate punishment,” Lee said. “We’re talking about the loss of a life, here.”
“You really can’t allow a celebrity … to basically walk away from killing somebody,” Lee said. “You have to convince people that justice can be equal across the board.”
Garrison’ s attorney, as one would expect, argued that the petition is an attempt to influence the judge, and that those who who signed said petition don’t know all of the facts of the case.
“It’s almost sentencing by gathering signatures” rather than by the procedures of the legal system, Harland Braun said. “They are doing it to try to influence a judge, and it’s very immoral. …The lesson that’s being taught these high school kids is inappropriate.”
“We don’t sentence people by gathering signatures like some kind of political initiative at a parking lot at a Ralph’s supermarket.”
We’ll see if the petition has any bearing on the case when Lane Garrison is sentenced today.
