Jason Aaron DeLong, who in July 1993 fatally stabbed his mother and her boyfriend in a fit of rage, deserves compassion -- not punishment -- his lawyers will argue today at his sentencing hearing in Carroll Circuit Court.
Any sentence that would put DeLong in prison immediately after he is treated at a state mental hospital would be "cruel and unjust" and would "make a mockery" of his current psychiatric treatment, Luther C. West, the 19-year-old Westminster man's lawyer wrote in a sentencing document to be submitted to Judge Francis M. Arnold.
In essence, the sentencing document says, Judge Arnold should not impose a sentence on DeLong that would call for him to serve any time behind bars.
In September, a Carroll jury found DeLong guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the deaths of Cathryn Brace Farrar, who was stabbed 86 times, and George William Wahl, but said he wasn't criminally responsible for his actions because he was insane.
The only charge on which the panel of nine women and three men found DeLong guilty and criminally responsible was conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Judge Arnold could sentence DeLong to life in prison on the conspiracy charge; whatever term he imposes would be served after psychiatrists deem DeLong cured of his insanity.
Mr. West and Catherine Flynn, Mr. DeLong's other attorney, will argue that their client commited the crimes only after a lifetime of abuse by his mother drove him insane. They also contend that contrary to long-established legal practice in Maryland, a judge cannot impose life in prison on a conspiracy charge, even if it was a conspiracy to commit murder.
In their sentencing document, the lawyers say, "Trial courts have imposed up to life for this charge, but the issue of whether this punishment violated Maryland code, the Maryland Declaration of Rights or the United States Constitution has not been considered by an appellate court."
The lawyers also say, "It is not at all clear what punishment courts can lawfully exact for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder." The lawyers claim that DeLong should, under Maryland law, be given no more than 10 years on the conspiracy charge.
DeLong is now at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, where he will remain until doctors there declare him fit to rejoin society.
Mr. West and Ms. Flynn say their client also should be given credit for time served at Perkins, a practice not currently followed in most of Maryland.
"To deny Jason DeLong credit for the time he is committed to [Perkins Hospital Center] . . . would violate Maryland common and statutory law," the lawyers wrote.
Prosecutors are expected to ask Judge Arnold to sentence DeLong for the rest of his life, although even with a life sentence, DeLong could be paroled in little more than a decade. Ara Crowe, one of the Baltimore assistant state's attorneys who prosecuted the case, declined to comment yesterday.
During the monthlong trial, prosecutors argued that the crime was nothing more than a savage murder in the course of robbing Ms. Farrar of her "meager" possessions. Mr. Wahl, by all accounts, was killed simply because he was there.
Defense attorneys and parole experts said DeLong, if he is sentenced to life in prison, could be eligible for parole 12 years after he is released from Perkins.
Mr. West predicted that his client could return to society in as little as "10 to 15 years."
If DeLong's attorneys persuade Judge Arnold to impose a concurrent 10-year sentence, DeLong could be released after his treatment is completed.
Co-defendant Sara Elizabeth Citroni, who met DeLong days before the slayings, pleaded guilty in July. She was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
The jury deliberated for nearly four days before returning the verdicts against DeLong. The panel had decided early in the deliberations that DeLong stabbed his mother and her boyfriend, but members were stuck on the issue of criminal responsibility.