Heiress gets 60 days in polo player's slaying Arms heiress susan cummings was convicted yesterday of voluntary manslaughter for killing her argentine polo playing lover, but a fauquier county jury sentenced her to just 60 days in jail, partially accepting her argument that she acted with justification. "I feel very happy,"Said cummings, 35, who could have faced up to life in prison had she been convicted of the original charge of first degree murder in the sept.7 death of Roberto Villegas, 38. On the manslaughter conviction, the eight women and four men on the jury could have cheap ralph lauren australia sentenced cummings to as much as 10 years in prison.Cummings said she wanted the world to know"How deeply i appreciate the jury's consideration. " She has decided not to appeal and will begin serving her sentence on saturday after a memorial service for her billionaire arms dealer father, samuel cummings, who died april 29 in monaco. Defense attorney blair howard was visibly elated by the sentence. "It's the lowest sentence [for manslaughter] i have seen,"He said. "We will be eternally grateful for the verdict in our favor. " But friends of villegas said they were horrified by the light punishment. "Basically, she got away with murder,"Said travis worsham, who had played polo with villegas for eight years and said the prosecution didn't do enough to show his friend's good side. "The only reason the sentence was so minimal was because of the bad things they said about roberto. " Cummings had been involved with villegas for about two years.They met when she took up polo and brought him to her 350 acre estate as the star player on her team.She shot villegas four times that sunday morning in the kitchen of the estate she shares with her twin sister, diana, just outside the county seat of warrenton, where the trial took place. During the trial, howard argued that cummings had been sorely provoked and acted in self defense as villegas came at her with a knife.Witnesses testified that villegas had punched, hit and publicly berated cummings in the months before the shooting. But prosecutors contended that cummings was guilty of premeditated murder because forensic evidence showed villegas was sitting at the kitchen table when he was shot.Prosecution experts also said the evidence showed that a knife found beside villegas's body was suspiciously free of blood and that cuts on cummings's arm appeared to be self inflicted. Assistant commonwealth's attorney kevin f.Casey professed to be"Happy"With the verdict. "The justice system worked.Ms.Cummings is a convicted felon,"He said.As for the sentence,"That was the jury's province to decide after hearing all the evidence,"He said. Other lawyers said they were not surprised by the verdict and sentence, in light of cummings's spotless record and the parade of witnesses howard found to describe previous threats and violence by villegas. The jury"Obviously thought that spending time in jail wouldn't do any good in this case,"Said prince william commonwealth's attorney paul b.Ebert. "It was pretty clear that they didn't want to hurt her.It's a domestic killing, and in a domestic situation [juries] get caught up in emotion. " "They're saying, 'if you're a man, you can't go beating and bullying people and expect the community is going to give your life much worth, '"Said fairfax defense lawyer peter d.Greenspun. The killing caused deep rifts in northern virginia's polo set and drew the foreign media and local television trucks to warrenton's narrow streets. "I'm glad the court proceeding is over,"Said fauquier county sheriff joseph higgs, who had to tie up 40 of his 120 employees to deal with the week ralph lauren outlet uk long hoopla. Cummings, her sister and their mother, irma, were expressionless as the verdict was read, although members of the defense team wept.But they were all smiles and hugs when the sentence came down an hour later. Virginia juries recommend a sentence, but cummings agreed to accept the 60 days and a $2, 500 fine without another hearing. A juror who asked not to be identified said the group gave equal weight to forensic evidence that pointed to cummings's guilt and to two days of emotional testimony about villegas's alleged mistreatment of his girlfriend. "We tried to view everything"During the more than eight hours of deliberations, the juror said. "We went over all of the evidence over and over. " Cummings was a calm and steady witness who showed little emotion as she described the abuse she said she had suffered at her lover's hand.He made fun of her disabled left hand, punched her, and once put a noose around her neck, she said, and later witnesses backed up her testimony. But her version of the day of ralph lauren outlet australia the shooting failed to provide strong evidence that she truly felt in jeopardy, the prosecution argued.Cummings said that villegas released her after cutting her arm and that she shot him when she heard his chair scrape behind her.She never said he had the knife in his hand when she pumped four bullets into his upper body. "That's the best version she could possibly come up with and.At best roberto looked like maybe he was getting out of his chair,"Casey told the jury during closing arguments. But howard was able to beat back charges that his client was a premeditated murderer by harping on the prosecution's failure to provide a motive for the killing. "There was no reason for her to shoot this man other than that he had crossed the line"Into violence, howard told the jury during closing arguments. During the sentencing phase, howard argued that cummings was a quiet, nonviolent person who had been pushed beyond her limits by villegas's abuse. "All of us have a breaking point,"He said. "We all make mistakes.That doesn't mean she's a bad person.That doesn't mean she belongs in the state penitentiary. "

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