Paulette Comer sentenced to 12 years in prison for stabbing Alexander Torrance (video).
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse woman who has been the victim of psychological and physical abuse most of her life was sentenced today to 12 years in state prison for killing her abusive boyfriend in September.
"I didn't mean for this to happen," Paulette Comer told Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi.
Comer, 41, of 107 Smith Lane, Apt. 35, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Alexander Torrance. Torrance, 39, died after being stabbed in the chest with a large butcher knife during an argument with Comer in the apartment they shared at the Vincent Apartments complex Sept. 14.
"There's not much we can do. Nothing will bring my brother back," James Torrance said as he left court with Chief Assistant District Attorney Alison Fineberg. "I'm going to miss him."
The brother said he did not know what was going on in the relationship between the victim and Comer. But he said it was unfortunate that they both didn't seek outside help.
Offering forgiveness may take some time, he said.
In court, Fineberg read to Aloi a letter from another brother, Michael Torrance, who called the victim his best friend and said he hoped both families would be able to heal in the wake of what happened.
"Help was available and instead a knife was chosen," Fineberg told Aloi, noting the prosecution had wanted a harsher sentence of 15 years in prison for Comer.
Defense lawyer Thomas Ryan asked Aloi to consider even less than the 12 years agreed to when Comer pleaded guilty. Ryan said Comer had a litany of problems: a learning disability, significant developmental impairment, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar and antisocial disorders and poor impulse control.
He also said Comer had a lengthy history of physical, sexual and emotional abuse that started with her father when she was a child.
She had been in a long-term abusive relationship with a prior boyfriend before getting involved in a long-term abusive relationship with Torrance, Ryan said.
The lawyer noted Comer never called police to report being abused by Torrance because he was on parole and she did not want to see him sent back to prison.
Had the case gone to trial, Ryan said he would have argued that Comer was the victim of battered woman syndrome. But his client opted to plead guilty and accept responsibility for what happened, he said.
Aloi said he believed Comer was genuinely remorseful. But he agreed with the prosecutor that there were other steps Comer could have taken to get help.
Aloi said he hoped those kinds of programs would get some added attention as a result of publicity about Comer's case and her sentencing today.
The judge said he understood that victims in an abusive relationship often feel hopeless and believe they are somehow responsible for what is happening to them. But that should not be the case, he added.
While recognizing that Comer has a history of mental health issues, developmental disabilities and substance abuse problems, Aloi said none of that provided any justification for her decision to stab Torrance.
Outside court, Ryan said a jury might have had a sympathetic view of Comer had he taken the case to trial. But he also admitted there could have been a problem arguing Comer was justified in resorting to deadly physical force at the time of the stabbing because there was no indication her life was in jeopardy at that time.
Comer had left the apartment once after the argument with Torrance only to return, grab the knife and stab the victim, the prosecution contended.
Ryan said Comer's disabilities made it difficult for her to understand what she could have done to help herself to get out of the abusive relationship with Torrance.
The situation was exacerbated by the fact Torrance had found a friend who had a job and was able to provide him with alcohol every weekend, Ryan said. When intoxicated, Torrance became abusive, he added.
"It got to the point where she couldn't take it anymore," he said.
Ryan said he hoped Comer's size would keep her from being preyed upon while in prison. He also said he hoped prison programs would help her with some of her problems.
"Her life was certainly a difficult one, a miserable existence as it was," he said.