Woman Charged in McMissile Case Receives 5 Years Probation

Jessica Hall,25, was spared a two year prison sentence when the judge sentenced her to five years of probation instead. The jury had handed Hall a two year prison sentence though. Under state law the judge could only reduce the jury's sentence. The law prohibits judges from increasing sentences handed down by the jury. In this case Judge Frank Hoss chose to reduce the sentence to probation.

The Prosecutor Daniel M. Chichester wanted Hall to be sent to prison. Chichester has stated " It is important to remember that it is not what was thrown but the danger by the act that Virginia law seeks to protect against."

The Assistant Commonwealth's attorney George Elsasser had argued that a serious accident with injuries could have resulted had Ballwin been struck by the cup of ice.

During her sentencing Hall had wept and thanked the judge for putting her on probation. Hall had been in jail since Jan.4. She was ordered free on the Virginia charges but had remained on a Mississippi warrant on suspicion of writing bad checks.

The case against Jessica Hall had become known as the "McMissile" case after Hall had suffered road rage and threw a McDonald's cup of ice into another moving vehicle. The cup of ice that had been thrown landed all over the driver's girlfriend, the front of his car, dashboard and windshield. The driver of the other vehicle had cut Hall off twice. One of which times had caused Hall to swerve onto the shoulder of the road.

The driver of the other car, Pete Ballwin,36, and his girlfriend Eliza Fowle,28, stand by their decision to report the crime but feel that the jury's sentence of two years was too much. Fowle felt community service would have made more sense than the jury's sentence.

After the jury's verdict of a two year sentence Hall had spoken with the Washington Post during an interview at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, stating " We didn't think it would go this far. Two Years! What did I do?"

Jessica Hall is a military wife, who's husband is serving his third tour in Iraq and the mother of three. She has said that she is planning to go to school to be a nurse.

Sources: Associated Press, CBS News