A 19-year-old De Soto man was sentenced to one year in jail Thursday for his role in the death last year of his 17-year-old girlfriend.
But a Johnson County judge also granted Johnny Landa a reduced bond while he appeals his guilty verdict of misdemeanor vehicular homicide. Bond was previously $100,000 and is now $40,000.
A jury last week convicted Landa of the lesser charge compared to the second-degree murder conviction that prosecutors had sought for the death of Griselda Del Real after an incident Aug. 31.
According to testimony, Del Real became jealous when she saw Landa in a vehicle with another girl. She jumped on the running board of Landa's sport utility vehicle while he was backing up.
He asked her to get down, and at some point when he began driving forward, she fell. Del Real suffered a fatal head injury.
Defense attorney Tom Bath said he expected Landa to bond out this week. If his appeal is eventually rejected, he would reappear before a judge who would decide if Landa needed to finish serving his 12-month sentence, Bath said.
A judge gave Landa credit for the more than five months in jail he's already served.
Comments
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consumer1 (anonymous) says…
Reality Check, You really have a F*ck*d up way at looking at things. YOu need to check the actual laws before you start accusing people of being a pedofile.
jafs (anonymous) says…
She jumped on his car and refused to get off - doesn't she bear some responsibility for the outcome?
And, if she fell and hit her head, I'm not sure he ran over it.
Also, statutory rape laws only apply when one is under the age of 16, I believe.
busymom (anonymous) says…
jafs-how exactly can she bear any of the responsibility? And fyi, he only has 7 months left to serve if he even serves that. I believe he should serve more, he knew she was up on the truck and started to drive anyway.
Heart and thoughts to the family and friends of Griselda.
lilzcoop (anonymous) says…
adolescent?? i think the law says at 18 you are an adult. He ran over her, drove around the block, looked at her body in a large pool of blood and drove off again. On the news last night they said the woman that found Heath Ledgers body was not a licensed therapist so she could serve 4 years. Murder or Massage, hummm, which is worse?