After spending approximately two days in deliberation, the jury in the case of Arizona v. Mark Torre, returned with a guilty verdict just after 2:30 p.m. on Monday.
The anxiety-ridden family and friends of both Jessica Woodin and Mark Torre filled a South-East Superior Court courtroom and listened as the jury announced the conviction of a class-four dangerous negligent homicide conviction. The jury also found Torre guilty for leaving the scene of an accident in which he was involved, but maintained that he did not cause the accident.
The two-week-long trial examined Torre's not guilty plea in the August 2001 hit-and-run death of ASU freshman Jessica Woodin.
The Woodin family was satisfied with the verdict.
"The legal process was handled well from start to finish," said Doug Woodin, the victim's father.
Torre could face a minimum of four years and a maximum of 11.75 years in prison.
Torre was convicted of dangerous negligent homicide because his car was used to cause the death of another person.
This conviction is different from negligent homicide because it involves a dangerous weapon and therefore forces a stronger sentencing.
The prosecution brought two charges against Torre: second-degree murder and fleeing an accident the driver caused.
Jury members are allowed to convict on those charges or on a lesser-related charge.
Because the jury was unable to agree on charges of second-degree murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter, they convicted Torre of the lowest charge possible: dangerous negligent homicide.
The jury was also unable to agree that Torre left the scene of a crime for which he was responsible.
Sentencing is scheduled to take place in 45 days, on Dec. 13.
As Torre was led away to spend his first night in custody, members of Torre's family broke into tears.
Larry Kazan, Torre's attorney, said he is not happy with the jury's verdict and plans to appeal.
The Woodin family said they did not care about the length of prison time Torre received, but that they want him to realize the consequences of what he did that night.
"How do you determine how much time [in prison he deserves] for Jessica's life," her father said. "The jury's decision is in and we, as Jessica's family, will live with that decision."
Doug Woodin said the trial was important for the Woodin family because it helped them understand what happened to Jessica that night.
"The worst thing for parents in this situation is to have questions go unanswered," he said. "Now we can go through the healing process."
Woodin's father said he had a few conversations with Torre's father and doesn't hold any malice toward the Torre family.
"They are an absolutely wonderful family," he said. "We are just two fathers dealing with two horrible situations."
The family said it hopes that prison will give him time to reflect on his actions.
"I think he's going to be doing that the rest of his life," Doug Woodin said.
Reach the reporter at samantha.xanthos@asu.edu.
