Suzanne-Deanna Grover Sentenced To Six Months In Jail For Anti-Gay Motivated Attack On Lindsey C. Harmon; Because Of Time Served In Custody She Will Be Released “Within Days,” Judge In Case Wanted Hate Crime Charge Added

The Buffalo News reports that 22 year old Suzanne-Deanna Grover was sentenced Monday morning to six months in jail in connection to an assault on 30 year old Lindsey C. Harmon, Grover slashing Harmon with a pocket knife in the eye after a confrontation in a parking lot outside the lesbian nightclub Roxie’s early January 1st. State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller, delivering the sentence, told Grover she should thank the stabbing victim her sentence is not longer, stressing that the only reason he accepted Grover’s guilty plea September 3rd to second-degree assault, instead of scheduling a jury trial on the charge, since Harmon herself accepted a probation report recommending a brief jail term accompanied by exhaustive post-jail counselling for Grover. A Grand Jury had been convened, but it rejected hate crime charges, despite Harmon contending she was attacked because of her sexual orientation. Harmon, who now must wear glasses, did not speak during sentencing, and although she abided by the probation report, Senior State Prosecutor Michael J. Flaherty Jr. told Justice Boller that Harmon is “not happy with the brief jailing but accepts the end of the case.” In addition to the six-month sentence, Boller sentenced Grover to 100 hours of community service, pay $375 in court costs, and stay away from Harmon. He warned her that she will face up to seven years in prison for any violation of the five years of probation she will be on after release from a local jail. Since she was held in custody for four months, she is likely to be released within days.