Winkle may avoid jail time
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Mary Winkler?s conviction for voluntary manslaughter on Thursday brings with it the possibility she may not serve another day in jail.
Judge Weber McCraw will have a variety of options when he decides Winkler?s fate on May 18. While Winkler faces three to six years in prison, it?s possible the judge could give Winkler a suspended sentence and probation. That would mean she would not return to jail, provided she doesn?t commit another crime.
If she does get jail time, Winkler will be credited for the nearly five months she has already served, and she would be eligible for parole after 30 percent of her sentence.
If Winkler had been convicted of second-degree murder for killing husband Matthew Winkler, she would have faced at least 12 years in prison. A first-degree murder conviction would have meant incarceration for what would have essentially amounted to the rest of her life.
Jury foreman Bill Berry is one of the people who has already expressed some degree of dissatisfaction with the verdict. In an interview with Memphis TV station WMC, Berry said he was more skeptical of Winkler?s claims of abuse than some of the women on the jury.
?It was a room of 10 ladies,? Berry said. ?You know which way that?s going to pull. Ten ladies are going to have a tendency to see Mary?s view.?
Berry, who was one of only two men on the jury, added, ?We have to make decisions we?re not 100 percent sure about we got to live with. I have to be satisfied with this one.?
In her defense, Winkler said the shooting was an accident and testified to a wide range of verbal, physical and sexual abuse over the course of her marriage. The fact Winkler took the stand and described how her husband kicked her, berated her, and forced her to perform sex acts she didn?t like worked in her favor, a legal expert says.
?I wasn?t too surprised by the verdict,? said Vanderbilt University law professor Nita Farahany, who specializes in criminal law and behavioral sciences. ?Her testimony proved to be pretty powerful.?
Local reaction hit on both sides of the spectrum.
?She?s stuck in a marriage and she?s married to a preacher,? said Dick Ross, a preacher himself. ?She killed him, but she had to get away from the situation.?
George Doyle said he had difficulty believing the accident defense.
?I don?t know why you would point a shotgun at somebody,? said Doyle. ?I don?t believe it was an accident.?
Winkler will continue to live in Warren County until her sentencing date next month. Even if she is sentenced to jail time, Winkler has the option of immediately appealing that sentence and remaining free on bond during that process. This is a strategy which has kept Clementine Myers out of jail for over two years since her conviction.
However, Winkler may opt to serve any jail time immediately so she can put the incident behind her and concentrate on regaining custody of her three daughters, now 9, 7 and 2. She has already made one court appearance in an effort to regain custody.
Associated Press writer Beth Rucker contributed to this report.