Guru guilty of homicide in sweat lodge deaths

Guru guilty of homicide in sweat lodge deaths

news.yahoo.com

PHOENIX (Reuters) – An Arizona jury on Wednesday found self-help guru James Arthur Ray guilty of negligent homicide in the deaths of three people who fell ill at a sweat lodge ceremony he conducted nearly two years ago.

The jury at Yavapai County Superior Court found Ray not guilty of the greater charge of reckless manslaughter in the deaths of James Shore, Liz Neuman and Kirby Brown who attended a personal growth seminar, near Sedona, Arizona, in October 2009.

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Guilty... for that I am glad but before anyone can celebrate you should read on...

today Ray is free on a $525,000 bond The jurors will reconvene on June 28 to begin the next phase of the trial to determine if there were aggravating factors. A sentencing date has yet to be announced

Negligent homicide is a class four felony. Ray faces a minimum sentence of 1.5 years in jail for each count, which could be raised to 3.75 years if aggravating circumstances are proven.

A minimum of 1.5 years behind bars sounds unfair when you consider Ray was directly responsible for taking the lives of three people whose trust he betrayed

news.yahoo.com
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Dear Daddybare,

James Arthur Ray has helped a great many people in his career, from his Seminars, DVDs, Books, etc. even in light of this unfortunate occurrence. I have no doubt this was an accident and poor judgment on his part that led to the deaths of these people. I think he should be punished for his actions, as he was trusted by these people, and it was this trust that lead to their deaths. I do have one problem with your wording though.

A minimum of 1.5 years behind bars sounds unfair when you consider Ray was directly responsible for taking the lives of three people whose trust he betrayed

James Arthur Ray did not take their lives. Taking implies they had no choice. They did have a choice to leave the lodge and on his word chose not to, making him responsible for bad judgment that lead to the deaths. I will not deny responsibility because with trust comes responsibility at which he failed, However, he did not murder these people as it was their choice to place their lives in his hands, which I do not think that, at the time, in the lodge, it was thought it was an issue of life or death.

Edit to say: S&F for keeping us posted in regards to the ongoing case.