Jacquetta Simmons Punches Old Lady, But Walmart Attack Jail Sentence Reduced

Jacquetta Simmons, the woman who was convicted of punching an elderly lady in a Walmart attack, had her sentence reduced Monday by an appellate court.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Jacquetta Simmons was originally sentenced to five years in prison for the Walmart attack.

Thanks to an appellate court, her sentence has been reduced to one year in prison. Judge Robert C. Noonan, the original sentencing judge, didn’t seem too happy about the reprieve in court:

“The sentence imposed by me previously is obviously the sentence I thought appropriate for this case. The appellate division has the authority to modify the sentence and has done so. As Mr. Friedman noted, I have no discretion to modify their sentence. Therefore, I sentence you to one year in the Genesee County Jail.”

Judge Noonan’s original five year sentence was a first in the State of New York, as no other first time offender has ever been handed down such a severe sentence. The attorneys for Jacquetta Simmons were predictably pleased with the appellate court’s decision. Defense attorney Earl Key speaks on the Judge’s unusual sentencing measures:

“There’s never been a case that we could find, and the District Attorney’s Office sure didn’t refute what we said in the paperwork, where anybody has ever gotten five years as a first-time offender.”

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman however, was also less than excited about the upper court’s decision:

“Having gone through this and seeing the impact this had on Mrs. Suozzi, her family, a lot of people in the community who knew her and cared about her, all of that is something that is lost in the appeal process. It’s one punch, but more than the physical harm is the emotional harm. It really affected her life as far as her ability to return to work and go out and about. She’s a very nice lady and this sentence doesn’t do her justice.”

Attorney Key continues to maintain that the Walmart attack carried out by Jacquetta Simmons was nothing more than an accident, and that she was merely pulling her arm away from another Walmart employee as she tried to rush from the store, and didn’t mean to hit 70-year-old Grace Suozzi. So what does the victim say of all this?

“I do not have a normal life anymore. She has taken away my health, that I worked so hard to maintain without medication. Now I’m forced to be on blood pressure and pain medication.”

What’s called the “Granny Law” in the state, required the punch to be categorized as a felony as the victim was a person 65 or older. Jacquetta Simmons also apologized to Ms. Suozzi in court.

So what do you think about Jacquetta Simmons’ Walmart attack sentence being reduced?