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SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An amusement park manager convicted of reckless homicide in a passenger's fatal fall from a ride was sentenced Tuesday to four years of probation. Charles Stan Martin was convicted earlier this year in the death of June Carol Alexander, a 50-year-old woman who was riding The Hawk, a swinging gondola-style ride, with her teenage son and her sister. Alexander's harness came loose, and she fell 60 feet to her death. "We can't sleep at night, screaming out in our sleep, seeing her fall," the sister, Judy Sprinkles, testified Tuesday. The victim's husband expressed disappointment that Martin did not get any jail time. Martin, 57, manager of the defunct Rockin' Raceway, could have received up to four years in prison.
"Of course, the man had never been in trouble before, but still I felt he should have gotten some jail time," Richard Alexander said. In addition to probation, Judge Richard Vance sentenced Martin to 200 hours of community service and fined him $5,000. Martin is not allowed to work on amusement rides during his probation. Testimony showed that a safety system which would have stopped the ride when Alexander's harness opened had been bypassed with a "jumper wire." No one saw who put the jumper wire in place, but circumstantial evidence pointed to Martin, who was responsible for all maintenance on rides. Martin blamed the ride's Italian manufacturer, Zamperla. District Attorney General Al Schmutzer had asked for the maximum sentence to set an example to other amusement park operators. Defense attorney Bryan Delius, who had asked for probation, said his client was "elated" by the judge's decision. He credited the lighter sentence to some 80 letters from Martin's friends and supporters. | 
