Herald staff
A state Supreme Court decision in March has resulted in shaving 2 1/2years off the prison sentence of a former Darrington man who tried to strangle a Marysville girl after breaking into her home in April 2000.
Jeffrey Todd White, who was 20 when he was sentenced to prison in October 2000, will spend a little more than 17 years in prison for the attack.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard Thorpe on Wednesday imposed the term, which is at the high end of the sentencing range set by law. The first time Thorpe sentenced White in 2000, the penalty was 2 1/2years longer.
White was brought back from prison for resentencing because a 1994 robbery conviction was used in calculating the sentencing range for the Marysville attack. Under state law, the seriousness of crimes and past criminal records are used to calculate the sentencing range.
The problem was the robbery was committed when White was a juvenile, deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said. It should not have been used in the calculation, according to the March Supreme Court decision.
"We have been doing resentencings ever since," Roe said. "Everything you do should count forever, because it’s who you are. And the judge deserves to know who you are when he sentences you for this crime."
The victim told police she awoke to find White in her room, and then he choked her unconscious. The attack ended when her 17-year-old brother heard noise coming from her room and when to investigate. He struggled with the intruder, and their father fired a warning shot before White ran away.
Otto Bruun, the girl’s father, was in court explaining to the judge that the attack has had a serious effect on his family. Family members knew White, and had previously allowed him to sleep at the home.
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