Last Tuesday, April 17 there was the sentencing hearing for Craig Cosby who had been convicted On March 30 of Premeditated Murder in the killing of his wife on October 3, 2009. Judge Nielson presided at the hearing.

The hearing was attended by friends and family of Susan Cosby. The judge listened to the sentence recommendation of the state and the victim impact statement of Kristen Cosby and then from Mr. Wasson the defense attorney and then from Mr. Cosby.

In his statement to the court, Mr. Cosby said he had never denied that he shot his wife and that she had died of her wound, but that he had not planned to kill her and would not plead to a charge that was not the truth about what happened. He criticized the justice system, saying it was not designed to bring out the truth. He said he did love his wife, but offered no explanation about why it happened.

Judge Nielson summed up the hearing and parts of the trial. He noted that many months had been spent with evaluations to determine if Mr. Cosby had a mental problem and that none apparently was found. He mentioned that alcohol or drugs was not involved either. He noted that a jury had heard the evidence and rejected Mr. Cosby’s claim of self-defense. He mentioned that from the evidence it was clear that Susan was loved and well thought of by many people.

Judge Nielson stated in conclusion that in this case, a man without mental problems, with no alcohol or drugs in his system, had with deliberation murdered his wife by shooting her multiple times. He said that this crime deserved the maximum sentence and followed the state’s recommendation by imposing 380 months in prison.

Mr. Cosby immediately filed a notice of appeal and Mr. Wasson withdrew has his attorney. Now the appellate process begins which will take at least two years and maybe much longer as the court figure out whether or not Mr. Cosby received a fair trial. I expect he will accuse Mr. Wasson of making some mistake in representing him. This is the common theme of a defendant who is convicted at trial. They try to find someone to blame for the conviction rather than what they did.