A man sentenced to life in prison on federal hate crime charges for deliberately driving his car into anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia is set to face a state judge who could add another life sentence, plus 419 years.
James Alex Fields Jr., 22, will be sentenced Monday for killing one person and injuring dozens during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017.
Last month, Fields received a life sentence on 29 federal hate crime charges.
FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2017, file photo, people fly into the air as a vehicle is driven into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. James Alex Fields Jr. Fields, who was sentenced to to life in prison on federal hate crime charges for deliberately driving his car into anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia, is set to face a state judge on Monday, July 15, 2019, who could add another life sentence, plus 419 years.(Ryan M. KellyThe Daily Progress via AP, File)
A state jury has recommended a sentence of life, plus 419 years. Under state law, Judge Richard Moore is allowed to go lower than the jury's recommendation, but cannot go higher.
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said judges in Virginia generally tend to stick with the jury's recommended sentence. In Fields' case, the state sentence will be mainly symbolic since he has already received a life sentence on federal charges.
"For his purposes, he has one life to give, so this is a largely academic exercise," Turley said.
People who were hurt in the attack and the family of the woman who was killed are expected to make victim impact statements during Monday's hearing in Charlottesville Circuit Court.
Fields, an avowed white supremacist who kept a photo of Adolf Hitler on his bedside table, drove from his home in Maumee, Ohio, to attend the rally, which drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The event also drew counterprotesters who demonstrated against the white nationalists.
Violent skirmishes between the two sides prompted police to declare an unlawful assembly and to order the groups to disband before the rally could even begin. Later that day, Fields plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing Heather Heyer , 32, and injuring more than two dozen others.
The event stirred racial tensions around the country. President Donald Trump sparked controversy when he blamed the violence at the rally on "both sides," a statement that critics saw as a refusal to condemn racism.
During Fields' state trial, his attorneys focused on his history of mental illness and traumatic childhood.
April 25 – May 1, 2024
From clashes in Istanbul, to protests in Berlin, people around the world demonstrated on May Day.
Kenya, along with other parts of East Africa, has been overwhelmed by flooding.
The Olympic flame started its journey to France from Greece, sailing through the Corinth canal.
This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by The Associated Press from Europe and Africa. The selection was curated by AP photographer Armando Franca in Lisbon.
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Inter Milan's Marcus Thuram celebrates lying wrapped in a plastic sheet at the end of a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Torino at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Inter Milan had already clinched the Italian Serie A league title the week before. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, serves a ball to Mirra Andreeva, of Russia, during the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Smoke from pyrotechnics obscured the stadium as Monaco scored their side's first goal in the first few minutes during a French League One soccer match between Lyon and Monaco at the Groupama stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Icelandic horses are driven to their paddock for the first time in the season in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
A young girl stands next to an eternal flame burning of the Unknown Soldier monument in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Police officers detain people who take part in a pro-Palestinians protest rally in Berlin, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Union members clash with Turkish anti riot police officers as they march during Labor Day celebrations in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A till operator packs old Zimbabwean dollar notes into a shopping basket as customers use them to buy groceries in a supermarket in Harare, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Customers have breakfast in a restaurant while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appears on a television broadcast in Madrid, Spain, Monday, April 29, 2024. Sánchez says he will continue in office "even with more strength" after days of reflection. Sánchez shocked the country last week when he said he was taking five days off to think about his future after a court opened preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
People celebrate King's Day on the canals of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)77
Pope Francis is greeted by Gondoliers upon his arrival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. The Pontiff arrived for his first-ever visit to the lagoon town including the Vatican pavilion at the 60th Biennal of Arts. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Belem, the three-masted sailing ship carrying the Olympic flame to France, is being towed through the Corinth canal in Corinth, Greece, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
People gather on a bridge where a woman's body was retrieved, after floodwater washed away houses, in Kamuchiri Village Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Riot police use a water cannon during an opposition protest against "the Russian law" near the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
People protest for human rights during a May Day demonstration in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
