Jury reaches finding on aggravators in sweat lodge case
James Ray
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 06/30/2011
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By: Associated Press
CAMP VERDE, AZ - Jurors who found a self-help guru guilty of negligent homicide in a sweat lodge ceremony have determined his conduct caused emotional harm to the families of the three people who died.
The jury needed to find two statutory aggravators for a judge to sentence James Arthur Ray to the maximum of nearly 12 years in prison.
The jury on Thursday decided that another factor -- that Ray held a unique position of trust -- only applied to one victim. The judge says that cannot be used to enhance sentencing.
The jury deadlocked on a third factor.
Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman died after the ceremony Ray led in Sedona in 2009.
Ray now faces anything from probation to nine years in prison. Sentencing is set for July 25.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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