People who play the victim card annoy me. There is something wrong about hearing someone who has been injured milking the story for more than they deserve. It grates at me like a nasty rash. It's just wrong. The case of Grace Suozzi set me off today. She was sucker punched in Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve in 2011 by a poor excuse for a human named Jacquetta Simmons. A judged sentenced Simmons to five years in prison; largely for her attitude it would seem. I want to feel sympathy for the victim, but I am unable to feel much sympathy because I think she overplayed her injury.
Grace Suozzi testified at Simmons' sentencing. She is a gray-haired old lady (71) who seems fit and able. Yet one sucker punch has turned her into a jobless shut-in. Her life is one of fear… over a single sucker punch. She blamed all of her current problems on the event. She even asked for the victim to be forced to pay her medical bills. She garners no sympathy from me. Take your punch, demand justice, and get on with your life. If you need more than justice allotted, then sue Simmons for civil damages. The key idea here is, get on with your life. Don't let one incident define the rest of your life.
For me, life is like boxing, except I'm not a contender. I'm a journeyman earning my way as I go. Sometimes I take one on the chin (like getting the crap beat out of me many years ago), or sometimes I take a career hit, but sometimes I win too. I take the good with the bad and keep moving. If I dwelled on all my failures, mistakes and hurts, I'd be stuck in 1983. Small traumas are part of life. Sometimes it's you that takes a shot, sometimes its the next guy. A sucker punch causing a black eye and a single night in the hospital is small trauma. Move on.
As for Jacquetta Simmons - Five years is a just sentence for sociopathic behavior. Who hits a 70-year-old woman over a receipt? Lock her up until she can act like a civilized human being.
Logging you in...
NoYourGod · 649 weeks ago
Hell, yes! Besides the offense the psychopath committed, as a member of this society you are responsible for making right those things you damage. Medical bills are appropriate for damage caused by the punch.
Now, if she is requesting the offender pay all her medical bills, regardless of their relation to the punch, that is going overboard.
dolo724 · 649 weeks ago
2. Perhaps this victim is suffering from PTSD. "Many years ago" you were younger. Would you allow PTSD for soldiers who are not only physically fit but young and resilient, yet deny it for a woman far past her prime?
3. Restitution is not uncalled for here, and is often awarded even though its size is restricted by law.
4. While I'm doing the grammar nazi thing, *journeyman.
5. Just sayin', ya know.
Mojoey 107p · 649 weeks ago
Point 2 - Perhaps, but she made no mention of being treated for it. I'm only going on her whine, it did not mention PTSD or any other mental conditions.
Point 3 - Sure. Restitution is called for if the judge deems it. Instead he sentenced the woman to five-years in prison. She needs to sue.
Criminal cases do not normally focus on compensatory damages. The victim can be made right through the tort process.