Jury Recommends Three Years for Ex-Culpeper Officer

A jury has recommended a sentence of three years for the former Culpeper police officer convicted in a February 2012 fatal shooting.

Former officer Daniel Harmon-Wright was found guilty Tuesday on three charges -- including voluntary manslaughter -- for the death of Patricia Ann Cook in the parking lot of a Catholic school.

Jurors said they recommended one year for each of the charges, reports David Culver of the News4 Northern Virginia bureau.

The prosecution said they were "satisfied" with how the jury came to their recommendation. But defense attorney Daniel Hawes said he still believes his client is innocent.

The jury's decision came shortly after 2 p.m., Culver reports. Their deliberations, which took slightly less than three hours, began shortly after a judge denied a motion requesting a mistrial Friday morning.

READ MORE: Former officer convicted of manslaughter

Defense attorney Daniel Hawes had filed the motion for a mistrial due to what he called jury misconduct.

Shortly before announcing they had a verdict Tuesday, the jury had asked the judge for the legal definition of two of the counts. Judge Susan Whitlock said the jury instructions should be enough, but two dictionaries and a thesaurus were later found in the jury room after the verdict was handed down Tuesday.

Jurors apparently looked up the definition of malice.

On Wednesday, the jurors were questioned one by one in front of the court. Following the interviews, the defense claimed the jurors' actions tainted the verdict and that Harmon-Wright didn't have a fair trial. The prosecution argued it lessened the jury's verdict from murder to manslaughter, thereby benefiting Harmon-Wright.

Judge Whitlock ruled in favor of the prosecution, and jurors moved on to the sentencing phase.

During his trial, Harmon-Wright said he shot Cook when his arm got caught in her SUV window as she tried to drive away. He said he thought she was a threat to public safety.

An eyewitness told News4 and Cook's lawyers a different story, saying the officer had one hand on the door handle and another on his gun.

In addition to voluntary manslaughter, the jury also found Harmon-Wright guilty of malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle and malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle resulting in a death.