Sailor sentenced to 10 years in shooting
By Andrew Tilghman – Staff writer, Navy Times.
Posted : Friday Sep 4, 2009 17:02:14 EDT
A Virginia sailor who claimed he didn’t know his gun was loaded when he fatally shot his girlfriend in the head was sentenced to 10 years in prison Aug. 31.
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) Airman Darren Mackie, 22, was sentenced in a Newport News courtroom.
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Trask’s mother told Navy Times she hopes the Navy will court-martial Mackie. “Other sailors have been court-martialed for less. It’s the right thing to do. It’s a common-sense thing to do,” said Mary Trask of Massachusetts.
But a spokesman for Naval Surface Forces said Mackie’s command has decided not to seek a court-martial.
There is no double jeopardy had the Secretary of the Navy decided a prosecution was warranted. You have two different sovereigns; the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States.