MARIN, Calif., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The heir to a porn empire has been sent to prison in California for 35 years to life for killing his ex-girlfriend.
James Mitchell, who was convicted July 12 for clubbing Danielle Keller to death with a baseball bat, was given the maximum sentence Tuesday in Marin, Calif., Superior Court, the Marin Independent Journal reported.
Judge Kelly Simmons rejected Mitchell's request to fire his attorney and seek a new trial before handing down her decision.
The sentencing hearing included showing a video montage of Keller and an emotional speech from her mother, Claudia Stevens.
"His flagrant dismissal of the law cost my daughter her life," said Stevens. "This man-child didn't care about anything but what he wanted. And if he can't get what he wants, he takes it."
Mitchell said at the hearing "I am not responsible for Danielle's death." He called Stevens a drunk and the case "a circus from the beginning."
He added that he was treated unfairly by the media because of his family's business; Mitchell inherited a porn and strip-club empire when his father, Jim Mitchell, killed his brother and business partner Artie Mitchell in 1991.
