Calif. man sentenced for killing wife as she sat on toilet

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Visalia man heads to prison in wife's death

Terry Geller of Visalia was handcuffed and led out of court to start serving his four year prison sentence for killing his wife.

VISALIA, Calif. -- Terry Geller of Visalia was handcuffed and led out of court to start serving his four-year prison sentence for killing his wife. Before the judge handed down the sentence, Geller said he was remorseful for the shooting.

"I have accepted full responsibility for this from the get go," said Geller. "I have cooperated fully with the police department everything with the courts."

Last month, a jury found Geller was not guilty of murder, and instead found him guilty of the lesser, involuntary manslaughter charge. At the time, Geller felt relieved and said the verdict proved what he was saying all along, the shooting of his wife was a tragic accident. Back in 2007, police say Geller shot his wife, Tena, as she was sitting on the toilet. The bullet penetrated the bathroom door, hitting her in the neck, killing her.

Defense Attorney Michael Idiart said, "Terry was optimistic he was hoping to get probation but you do have a dead person and someone who was intoxicated handling the gun and there are consequences for that."

Geller's attorney asked for probation but the judge handed down a four year prison sentence because of the fact that Geller called his parents on the phone for nine minutes before calling 9-1-1 and didn't appear to help his wife in any way after he shot her.

Tulare County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Fultz said, "We're grateful the fact the defendant was sentenced to prison we're looking at a few options regarding this case. The way the judge did the sentencing regarding the gun allegations we think there may be some irregularities there."

Before the judge handed down his sentence, attorneys argued over whether a gun charge was filed correctly. The judge and defense attorney say the charge that was actually filed was a lesser crime, with consequences of a year in prison. The more serious offense, which prosecutors believe they filed, could have added another 10 years onto Geller's sentence.

Prosecutor Brenda Broker said, "It was a typo your honor I did not mean to do it."

The Tulare County District Attorney's office is considering appealing the sentence as it related to the gun charge.