The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jury: Man who rammed crowd deserves life term
Judge sets March 29 sentencing hearing for James Fields Jr.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — Jurors told a judge Tuesday that life in prison is appropriate for a man who rammed his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally, capping a trial laced with the emotional testimony of survivors and troubling details of the self-proclaimed Hitler admirer’s long history of mental illness.
James Alex Fields Jr., 21, stood stoically with his hands folded in front of him as a court clerk read the verdict, which now must be taken under advisement by the judge, who will issue the final sentence. Judge Richard Moore scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 29.
The jury recommended a sentence of life for first-degree murder in the killing of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and activist, and also recommended a total of 419 years for his convic- tions on nine counts involv- ing injuries Fields caused to others and for leaving the scene of the crash in Char- lottesville last year.
Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, said she was satisfied with the jury’s recommendation, although she said her family and the survivors of the car attack will never be the same.
“The bottom line is justice has him where he needs to be,” Bro said.
“My daughter is still not here, and the other survivors still have their wounds to deal with, so we’ve all been damaged permanently, but we do survive, we do move forward, we don’t stay in that dark place.”
Judges in Virginia often impose the sentence recommended by juries. Under state law, they can impose lower sentences than what the jury recommends but cannot increase them.
Before issuing its recom- mendation, the jury asked Moore if the sentences would run consecutively or con- currently. He replied that sentences usually run consecutively but that jurors could recommend concur- rent sentences if they chose to. They did not.
The jury deliberated for about four hours over two days before agreeing on a sentencing recommendation.
Fields drove to Virginia from his home in Maumee, Ohio, to support the white nationalists at the “Unite the Right” rally Aug. 12, 2017.
After police forced the crowds to disband because of violent clashes between white nationalists and counterprotesters, Fields spotted a large group of counterprotesters marching and singing. He stopped his car, backed up, then sped forward into the crowd, according to testimony from witnesses and video surveillance shown to jurors.
Testifying for the defense, University of Virginia School of Medicine professor and psychologist Daniel Murrie told the jury that while Fields was not legally insane at the time, he has a long history of mental health issues.
Fields had inexplicable volatile outbursts as a young child and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 6, Murrie said. He was later diagnosed with schizoid per- sonality disorder.
Murrie said Fields went off his psychiatric medication at age 18 and built an isolated “lifestyle centered around being alone.”