Though I usually agree with the Sun Journal editorial writer David Farmer, I disagree with his conclusions in the Jan. 16 column about Brandon Thongsavanh’s lawyer’s plea for a reduced sentence.

When David Van Dyke used the term “garden variety,” I believe he was saying this murder was the result of an all-too-common street fight among young males. The unfortunate result was that a young man was killed; that the sentence imposed is too extreme for the circumstances.

Farmer states unequivocally “Thongsavanh killed Morgan McDuffee.” It is true that two juries decided that, but juries have been proven wrong in many instances, probably been wrong in many more.

And even if the jury was right, if he is guilty, we should consider another aspect of the case. If a jury had decided a white Bates College student had murdered an uneducated person of color in a street fight, would the sentence have been as long? I think not. I think people would not likely be writing about the great loss, either.

Joyce White, Stoneham