It’s a common enough argument. Sometimes it goes to blows. Two guys took it further than that. One stabbed the other multiple times. He was tried twice for the murder and has again been sentenced for it. He’s going to serve 80 years, which at 69 years old, is essentially a death sentence.<\/p>\n
Jeff LPH sends in this Military Times<\/a> article;<\/p>\n A Montana man who was twice convicted of killing another man during a drunken argument over which branch of the military was better, the Army or the Marine Corps, was sentenced Friday to 80 years in prison.<\/p>\n William Earl Cunningham, 69, of Laurel was first convicted of deliberate homicide in March 2015 in the 2014 death of Nathan Horn, 40.<\/p>\n The Montana Supreme Court overturned Cunningham\u2019s conviction and 80-year sentence in 2018, saying he was denied the chance to question the professional history and credibility of a state witness and not allowed to fully testify about why he was afraid of Horn. He testified he killed Horn in self-defense.<\/p>\n Cunningham didn\u2019t testify at his retrial last summer, The Billings Gazette reported.<\/p>\n Horn\u2019s throat was slit and he had been stabbed multiple times, a medical examiner testified at trial.<\/p>\n Cunningham told a pre-sentence investigator that Horn\u2019s death was an accident and that he believed he had served enough prison time, District Judge Gregory Todd noted during Friday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n Cunningham\u2019s attorney asked for a 40-year sentence with 20 years suspended, which would have made Cunningham immediately eligible for parole. Prosecutors again sought the 80-year sentence.<\/p>\n Cunningham has a criminal record of drunkenly assaulting others with a knife, Todd said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe it was accidental. And I don\u2019t believe Mr. Cunningham has done enough time,\u201d the judge said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You don’t “accidentally” slit someone’s throat and repeatedly stab them. I don’t know why Military Times couldn’t put the branch affiliations in, but I found another article that clarifies it. According to Law and Crime<\/a>, Cunningham was the Army half of the fight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"