Lawmakers in Austin are one step closer to closing a loophole in state law regarding punishment in certain aggravated assault cases. The Todd-Hogland Act passed the House floor on Wednesday without opposition – named after two women in Erath County who survived brutal attacks by total strangers. “It just seems like yesterday,” said Brandi Todd of Morgan Mill in Erath…
In similar aggravated assault cases – such as those involving domestic partners or even drive-by shootings – the law has been reformed over the years to allow punishment of up to 99 years or life in prison. However, because Todd and Hogland’s attackers were not known to them and were not committing the crime from a vehicle, the maximum punishment allowed is 20 years in prison – despite both victims suffering from life-altering injuries.
This new law aims to match that punishment for aggravated assaults with a deadly weapon that causes a brain or spinal injury that permanently paralyzes the victim or leaves them in a persistent vegetative state, regardless if they are a stranger. Crimes like the ones inflicted on Todd and Hogland would move from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony.
“In the future, should we encounter these types of cases – that will have the ability to give a jury the power to send somebody up to life in prison,” said Jett Smith, Erath County Assistant District Attorney. “Brandy, unfortunately, is serving a life sentence for what happened to her. And I believe her attacker deserves the same. Unfortunately, we can’t change the past or the law as it was back then. We hope to do that in the future.
“The forgiveness wasn’t for him, it’s not about him. It was for me. I needed that. That doesn’t absolve him of what he’s done. He’ll have to live with that,” she said. “I’m not scared. I’m not really angry at him anymore either. I was for a while but you can’t live in anger.”
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