State v. Sturm

A jury found Judy L. Sturm guilty of manslaughter, and the court sentenced her to imprisonment for 10 years. Judy appeals. She asserts that the sentence is excessive.

The victim was Judy’s third husband, Harvey, whom she had married in 1969. Judy, age 28, was the mother of a daughter, age 7, by a previous marriage, and of a son, age 1%, by her marriage to Harvey.

Harvey had severely beaten Judy on several occasions prior to September 18, 1971, the date of the manslaughter. On the latter date Harvey tardily returned home in the City of Lincoln after 2 a.m. Drunk and violent, he (1) struck Judy…