A judge held off Friday on deciding whether to grant a lightened sentence to a Kansas University student convicted of trying to rape his roommate.
Judge Paula B. Martin said she needed time to decide whether to grant Gregory D. Black's request to depart from state sentencing guidelines, which spell out a presumed penalty of between 55 and 61 months -- or about five years -- in prison for attempted rape. She set a Dec. 29 hearing to announce her decision.
Assistant Dist. Atty. Brad Burke urged Martin to stick to the guidelines. He said defense attorney John Frydman didn't offer enough reasons for a lighter sentence, and Burke said the fact the woman was intoxicated could be seen as an aggravating factor.
"(The victim) was violated in her most vulnerable condition, in her own house, by somebody she knew and trusted," Burke said.
Sentences are set in Kansas by a grid that combines the severity of the crime with a defendant's criminal-history score, but a judge can break from the guidelines if there are "substantial and compelling reasons."
Martin faced a movement to vote her off the bench for the lighter sentences she gave earlier this year in a statutory-rape case, but she was retained by a wide margin in the Nov. 2 election.
Defense attorney Frydman argued Friday that the incident wouldn't have happened if Black's roommate hadn't awakened him when she came home after a night of drinking. He was accused of fondling her April 6 as she slept on a couch at their home in the 900 block of Illinois Street.
Frydman said the harm to the 26-year-old woman was less than in a typical attempted rape case -- one done with threats of violence in which the victim is somehow able to escape.
Attempted rape conviction surprises defense attorney (09-15-04)Black, 22, told Martin he was sorry the incident happened and would accept whatever ruling she made.
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