Juneau, Alaska (AP)-A Utah woman’s father, who died after being beaten by her husband during a cruise in Alaska in 2017, was told by a judge on Wednesday that it would be justice if a man was put in jail for the rest of his life. He said he thought.
Jeff Hunt briefly restrained himself before speaking at the sentencing hearing of Kenneth Manzanales. Mansanares was married to Hunt’s daughter Christie and was found guilty of second-class murder in her death last year. ..
Hunt told US District Court Justice Timothy Burgess that Manzanales wants to “get what he deserves.”
Burgess heard emotional testimony from his family, including two daughters of the Manzanales family, and legal debate before being advised on the matter. He was due to announce his decision on Thursday.
Manzanales wept and said she loved her daughter and wife, describing Christie Manzanales as a “soulmate.” He said he wanted to be forgiven over time and said he was sorry.
The prosecutor is seeking life imprisonment, and the assault that two children of the couple have witnessed in part is diagrammatically described in court documents and speech. Mansanares lawyers argued that such a ruling was excessive and required a term of seven and a half years in the filings.
His lawyer, in a court filing, believed that Mansanares had a brain disorder that was consistent with an injury caused by a defense expert playing contact sports. This was diagnosed at the time. There is no bipolar disorder, and “the problematic combination of prescribed medication and alcohol resulted in an episode of extraordinary violence,” the application states.
Manzanales played football, wrestled and boxed when he was young and had a history of “testosterone replacement therapy,” Filing said.
Prosecutors challenged the defense’s medical claims, saying Manzanales’ actions were intentional. Assistant Federal Attorney Jack Schmidt portrayed Manzanales as a bully with anger and tried to portray his behavior when his wife said he wanted to divorce.
According to the prosecutor, Christie Manzanales told her husband that she wanted a divorce in a quarrel the night of her death. They also said they admitted that Kenneth Manzanales had detained her in the past and pierced the wall.
In a court filing, the lawyer said the couple had a “long and happy marriage” and that it was “a false story to characterize Mansanares as a perpetrator of habitual domestic violence.” Jamie McGrady, a federal public defender, accused the prosecutor of selectively analyzing details from Manzanales’ statements in an attempt to draw such a picture.
McGrady also said Manzanares had no disciplinary issues and maintained relationships with his daughters while incarcerated in the case.
A Manzanales lawyer claimed in a court filing that his children were responsible for Manzanales, but said, “They were also a major factor in the events that caused his disability. I understand and they have already lost one parent. “
One of his daughters, Kamlin Mansanares, read from a purple tablet paper and told his father that he loved him at the end of his court statement.
Members of a large family, including Christie Manzanales’ father and two brothers, also participated in the cruise. Both brothers called on Burgess to impose the maximum possible sentence.
One of his brothers, Cody Hunt, described Manzanales’ actions as “terrifying” and left the courtroom before Manzanales spoke.