From jail, Woomer stays connected to her supporters
Nurse blogs about prison, sentencing, appeal.
By PATRICK BURNS
Lancaster
Published Mar 21, 2010 00:18
Joy O'Shea-Woomer maintains her innocence and contact with an impressive following of supporters by blogging on the Internet from Lancaster County Prison.

In her most recent entry on justiceforjoy.org, Woomer states that no one has ever been found guilty of the three charges she faces sentencing on Wednesday. Therefore, she writes, Judge David Ashworth has no sentencing guidelines to follow in determining her sentence.

A jury convicted Woomer in January of third-degree murder, drug delivery resulting in death, and delivery of a controlled substance.

"My attorneys and I have little idea about what to expect," Woomer wrote. "I was found guilty of 3 separate charges, which runs concurrently. How the 3 charges will merge is a mystery."

The most severe sentence if the three charges are merged could "roll" down from 20-40 years to six to 7½ years in prison, she wrote.

She says that her attorneys will immediately begin working on her appeal and that she expects to be transferred to the State Correctional Institution at Muncie within two to six weeks.

"I've been assured by many other inmates who have done time at Muncie that life is much more bearable there compared to here," Woomer stated. "Still, it's a maximum security prison."

She states that sleep is the "ultimate escape" in prison and that 17 months behind bars has "honed my Scrabble skills, becoming the one everyone tries to beat."

Woomer wrote that up to 10 character witnesses will speak on her behalf, but she is not sure who will be selected.

"At this point, I'm not thinking too far into the future and doing my best to deal with the present," she wrote.
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