27-year-old Melissa Arrington was convicted of aggravated DUI and negligent homicide in the death of bicyclist Paul L'Ecuyer. Arrington, as the Associated Press reports, was sentenced to 10 1/2 years behind bars, one year short of the maximum. Superior Court Judge Michael Cruikshank cited "breathtaking" inhumanity in the exchange, in which a friend suggests Arrington be honored with a medal and a parade for, as he describes, "doing the world a favor" by killing a gay, French "tree-hugger" all at once.

Legal analyst Liz Wiehl suggests that Arrington could have faced more severe manslaughter charges if the jury had heard the exchange.

Video of this exchange, with transcript, is available to view below. It was originally broadcast on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor on January 28, 2008.

O’REILLY: Here’s another outrageous thing. This woman—where was this now, Kelly? Where this woman…

KELLY: What are you talking about?

WIEHL: In Tucson, Arizona.

O’REILLY: OK, thank you, Wiehl. Wiehl has done her homework. You’re staring at me like…

KELLY: We have, like, 10 cases on today’s docket. Can you be more specific?

O’REILLY: Kelly, are you not prepared?

WIEHL: Be nice to her.

O’REILLY: No, you did your homework. She’s standing there going, “I don’t know where she’s from.”

All right. Tucson, Arizona, woman gets involved in a vehicular homicide, right? She’s drunk.

KELLY: Yes.

O’REILLY: Right?

KELLY: Yes.

O’REILLY: And then she gets sentenced to what?

KELLY: Ten 1/2 years.

O’REILLY: Ten and a half years. Then she takes a phone call in jail, right?

KELLY: Well, no. You got the order wrong. She took the phone call in jail and then she got sentenced.

O’REILLY: All right. So she was about to be sentenced…

KELLY: Mr. O’Reilly, who doesn’t prepare for this segment.

WIEHL: All right. Let’s back up.

O’REILLY: It’s your bailiwick here. OK? I’m not lost.

KELLY: Then you take it back. I’ll give you the final word.

O’REILLY: OK. She gets—she hit somebody, she’s drunk.

WIEHL: Right.

O’REILLY: Kills somebody in Arizona, OK?

WIEHL: Yes.

O’REILLY: She gets convicted, right?

WIEHL: Right.

O’REILLY: But she’s not sentenced yet.

WIEHL: Right.

O’REILLY: OK. Then she takes a phone call in jail.

WIEHL: Yes.

O’REILLY: Correct?

WIEHL: From a buddy. Roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John says as far as he’s concerned, you did the world a favor. Because you took out a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot. He’s proud of you.

MELISSA ARRINGTON, CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER: (LAUGHING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says as far as he’s concerned, they should give you a medal and a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) parade.

ARRINGTON: (LAUGHING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that’s terrible, but he’s just trying to…

ARRINGTON: No, it’s not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O’REILLY: All right, so they tape-record the call. All the calls are tape recorded.

WIEHL: You’re in jail, right.

O’REILLY: They play it for the judge, and the judge gives it the max. Right?

KELLY: Yes. The judge says, “It was unspeakable inhumanity on your part. How could you have such little respect for human life? You, who’d already had two DUI convictions, you who was driving on a suspended license when you killed this man, who was only 45 years old...”

O’REILLY: And you’re laughing about it.

KELLY: “... on a bike ride, minding his own business. Hit him, dragged him 800 yards. And now you think it’s all funny?”

O’REILLY: OK. So the minimum, Wiehl, would have been what?

WIEHL: It could have been at least—it could have been as little as one to four years.

O’REILLY: One to four.

WIEHL: Right.

O’REILLY: And she got?

WIEHL: She got 10 and a half. But now let me back up for another second, which shows this judge being really righteous in what he did. Because he did not let the jury hear that phone conversation prior to sentencing. So it—I believe that, if the jury had heard that phone conversation, they would have—they would have convicted her of manslaughter. She was only convicted of negligent homicide, which is lower down.

O’REILLY: All right. But she could have gotten one to four.

WIEHL: Yes.

O’REILLY: And because of the call, she gets 10 1/2.

WIEHL: Well, no, no, the maximum was close to 10 and a half.

KELLY: Right, right. She got 10 and a half.

O’REILLY: You were doing so well, and now you’re back to the back row. All right, stop. Stop talking.