Judge Cuts Sentence In Flying Cup Case

Freedom Delayed By Miss. Warrant

Less than an hour after a judge decided yesterday that Jessica Hall had been punished enough for hurling a McDonald's cup full of ice at another driver, her family stood outside the jail, pacing near a white door on which a single word was written in black: RELEASE. It seemed more of a promise than a label.

Hall was supposed to walk through that door at that moment, was supposed to see her relatives excitedly waiting, was supposed to go home with them after spending nearly two months in jail. But she didn't, and because of yet another legal woe, the 25-year-old mother of three most likely won't be released until today.

Hall, who was convicted of maliciously throwing a missile at an occupied vehicle in what locals dubbed the McMissile case, was on the verge of release from the Rappahannock Regional Jail when an out-of-state warrant for her arrest popped up during a criminal record check. Murder? No. Assault? No. Hall was wanted in Hernando, Miss., for "insufficient funds," or writing bad checks in July 2005 for about $350, jail officials said. With court costs factored in, she owed $833.44.

"This is ridiculous," Hall's sister, LaJeanna Porter, said as she sat inside the Stafford County jail, waiting to hear why Hall wouldn't be leaving with them. "To go from one thing to another. We're just wondering why they waited until now to say something."

Jail officials said the warrant was filed Jan. 27. It was unclear whether Hall had written the checks or whether it was a case of identity theft, jail superintendent Joe Higgs said. Hall's purse had been stolen out of her car in nearby Memphis about the time the checks were written, and a police report confirmed it, Higgs said. At the same time, he said, the Hernando authorities said there was a photo linking Hall to the scene.

Jail officials initially said yesterday that Hall would have to be extradited to Mississippi, but they later said a deal was arranged in which Hall's parents could pay the fine and the warrant would be dismissed -- but not the charges.

Hall, who lives in Jacksonville, N.C., had been in jail since Jan. 4, when a Stafford jury found her guilty of the missile charge -- a felony -- after she threw the cup in anger at a car that had cut in front of her twice in stalled Interstate 95 traffic on her way to New York. No one was injured, but the jury sentenced Hall to two years in prison. Yesterday, Judge Frank Hoss Jr., who under state law can only affirm or decrease the jury's sentence, suspended all of the remaining two years pending five years' good behavior, saying the seven weeks Hall had served was enough.

"In my view, being a convicted felon and serving that time in jail is sufficient punishment," Hoss said.

"Thank you," Hall said, her voice shaky. "Thank you."

Moments earlier, Hall had told him that the experience had been a lesson for her.

"I'm just sorry. I don't know what to say. I apologize," she said.

Hall's case garnered national attention in the days before her sentencing, and about a dozen media outlets were represented in the courtroom. A few curious members of the public were there also, including several members of the Stafford County Branch of the NAACP, who quietly sat in a back row. President Bill Stephens said he received a call from a concerned person in Seattle, which spurred him to come. After the sentencing, he spoke softly, saying what many others had wondered about Hall's conviction: What if she had not been black, not financially struggling?