Jennifer Mee
| Jennifer Mee | |
|---|---|
| File:Jennifer Mee Mug Shot 2010.jpgFile:Jennifer Mee Mug Shot 2010.jpg Jennifer Mee Pinellas County Jail 2010 | |
| Born | Jennifer Ann Mee[1] July 28, 1991[1] St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | "Hiccup girl" |
Jennifer Mee (born July 28, 1991) is an American woman known as the "Hiccup Girl" for her long-lasting case of the hiccups. Mee appeared on national American television shows such as NBC's Today Show many times. Mee was arrested for first-degree murder in 2010. After a trial she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2013.[2] M. William Phelps wrote a book about her that was published in 2016.[3] Her transmutation from "media darling" to convicted murderer attracted renewed national attention.[4][5][6] Her conviction and sentence have received criticism in a law review.[7]
Hiccup Girl[edit]
In 2007 when Mee was 15 she gained international fame when she developed a case of uncontrollable hiccups. She appeared on television shows all over the United States hoping to find a cure. Mee claimed to be hiccupping 50 times a minute.[8] [9] National media competed to book her for morning shows.[4][5] Her "world record" bout of hiccups has been compared to the world record for sneezing.[5] The causes and treatment of her condition were disputed; but her popularity as an internet search item was long lasting.[10] Her search for a hiccup cure included ingesting "sugar, peanut butter, breathing in a bag, having people scare her.[2] The hiccups were stopped, after Mee was treated with drugs normally prescribed to patients with Tourette syndrome.[11][12] Mee's family sued the maker of the hiccup medicine for using a picture of Mee in their advertising.[13]
Mee continued to get media attention after her hiccups stopped.[2] In June 2007, she ran away from home and it was reported in the newspapers.[2]
After Mee was cured she was no longer a media curiosity. Mee dated a man named Lamont Newton. She had a plan to find robbery victims online and set them up. She recruited Newton and another friend Laron Raiford, to help her rob victims.[4]
Crime[edit]
In 2010 Mee set up a 22-year-old man she met online. She lured the man to a vacant home and two of Mee's friends robbed and shot the man. They got $50 in the robbery and murder. Under Florida law, Mee was as responsible as the person who pulled the trigger because she set him up.[9] After meeting the victim (Shannon Griffin) Mee led him around to the back of a vacant home where her two friends (Laron Raiford and Lamont Newton) were waiting with a .38 caliber handgun.[2] The victim was shot four times but police did not know which suspect did the shooting.[14] The victim died. Mee, Raiford, and Newton all lived together and they were arrested within hours of the crime.[2][15] According to Sergeant Skinner of the St. Petersburg Police Department, Mee and her accomplices admitted to their involvement in the crime.[13]
Trial[edit]
Prior to the trial, Mee's lawyer, John Trevena, offered to have Mee plead guilty in exchange for a 15 year sentence.[16] One of Mee's accomplices (Laron Raiford) was offered a pleas deal of 40 years in exchange for a guilty plea, but he rejected the deal.[17]
Mee was represented by John Trevena in her murder trial.[3] During the trial, the prosecution played a recording of a jailhouse phone call between Mee and her mother. During the call, Mee told her mother, "I didn't kill nobody...I set everything up. It all went wrong, Mom. It [expletive] just went downhill after everything happened, Mom." Also, experts also testified that Mee's DNA was found on the victim's shirt. Mee's lawyer offered that his client was a schizophrenic. The judge ordered a psychological evaluation, however, it was determined that Mee was competent to stand trial.[11] Another defense used by her lawyer was that Mee's hiccups were a symptom of Tourette's syndrome.[18][19]
In 2013, Mee was found guilty of first-degree murder. Mee was sentenced to life in prison without parole.[20] Her co-defendants LaRon Raiford and Lamont Newton, were also convicted of first-degree Felony murder and sentenced to life in prison.[9]
Mee's attorney motioned for a new trial which was subsequently denied.[21]
The verdict and sentence of Mee have been cited as an example of judicial mismanagement of trials involving female defendants. The writers opine on “They were there”[specify] as evidence of guilt; and the disregard of relevant evidence of victimization and abuse as a mitigating circumstance in the prosecution and sentencing of women. They grapple with the consequences of the felony murder rule, which punishes "presence"– and upgrades the offense to first-degree murder – under specified scenarios. They martial statistical information on demographics, convictions, sentences and prison populations to urge that women (typically accomplices) are over-charged and over-punished in Florida, particularly.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Subject Charge Report". pcsoweb.com. Pinellas County Jail. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Botelho, Greg (21 September 2013). "Florida 'Hiccup Girl' found guilty of murder". CNN. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Phelps 2016, pp. 298, 311, 275, 382, 401.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Getlen, Larry (February 28, 2016). "Hiccup Girl — from social media darling to convicted murderer". New York Post. NYP Holdings, Inc. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Torres & Healey 2016, p. 97.
- ↑ Ryann 2018.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Twist, Jennifer; Starr Blake, Marienne (November 15, 2016). "The Principal Theory". Hastings Women's Law Journal. University of California, Hastings College of the Law. 28: 73 – via HeinOnline.CS1 maint: Date and year (link)
- ↑ Park, Mary Jane (February 26, 2007). "Much more than an (hic) annoyance". Chicago Tribune. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Nelson, Sara C. (7 June 2017). "How Notorious 'Hiccup Girl' Jennifer Mee Ended Up Jailed For A Murder 'She Didn't Commit'". Huffington Post. Verizon Media. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ↑ Provine 2012, p. 101.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Davis, Linsey (20 September 2013). "Jurors Hear 'Hiccup Girl' Jennifer Mee's Jailhouse Confession in Murder Trial". ABC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ↑ Cassens Weiss, Debra. "CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Lawyer for 'Hiccup Girl' May Assert Tourette's Defense". ABA Journal. American Bar Association. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "'Hiccup girl' charged with murder of Florida man". BBC. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ↑ Schwartz, Alison. "Jennifer Mee, 'Hiccup Girl,' Baited Murder Victim, Say Police". people.com. People Magazine. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ "'Hiccup girl' charged with murder in Florida". The Telegraph. October 26, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ "'Hiccup Girl' Jennifer Mee offers guilty plea in exchange for 15 years in prison". Tampa Bay Times. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ↑ ""Hiccup Girl" co-defendant rejects plea deal in murder case, report says". CBS News. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ↑ Goldman, Russell (25 October 2010). "Hiccup Girl's Murder Defense: She Has Tourette's, Says Lawyer". ABC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ↑ Associated Press (September 17, 2013). "Jennifer Mee – Hiccup Girl – Goes on Trial for Murder". People.
- ↑ Neil, Martha (September 23, 2013). "'Hiccup Girl' convicted in felony murder case, gets life term". ABA Journal. American Bar Association. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ↑ "Hiccup Girl Jennifer Mee Denied New Trial". Tampa Bay Times. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
Bibliography[edit]
- Phelps, M. William (March 1, 2016). One Breath Away: The Hiccup Girl - From Media Darling to Convicted Killer (1st ed.). New York, New York: Pinnacle Books. pp. 298, 311, 275, 382, 401. ISBN 978-0786035014. Search this book on
- Provine, Robert R. (August 31, 2012). Curious Behavior. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780674071568. Retrieved December 14, 2019. Search this book on
- Ryann, Samantha (2018). Hiccup Girl: The True Story of Jennifer Mee. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1983846910. ISBN 9781983846915. Search this book on
- Torres, John A.; Healey, Tim (December 15, 2016). The World's Weirdest News Stories. Berkeley Heights, New Jersey: Enslow Publishing, LLC. p. 97. ISBN 9780766083790. Search this book on
External links[edit]
- Jennifer Mee in a jailhouse interview
- Jennifer Mee IMDb
- Free Jennifer Mee website
- Enmund v. Florida from findlaw.com
- Tison v. Arizona from findlaw.com
- Enmund v. Florida from LII, Cornell University
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