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RADFORD -- The Bob Shell trial was different from the start, with bondage photos displayed on the courtroom wall, a model dead of a morphine overdose, and the stark reality that it was all happening right on Main Street.

The trial continued to have its moments as Shell was formally sentenced Friday to 32 years and six months in prison -- plus a $5,000 fine -- in the accidental 2003 death of 19-year-old Marion Franklin.

Before Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter imposed the jury-recommended sentence, Shell, a photographer with an extended following, took the stand and apologized -- not for Franklin's death, but to anyone who may have been offended by his erotic work. Some of that work was displayed in the form of four hours' worth of sexually explicit videos during his August trial.

"I never would have wanted that material shown before a public forum in any way," he said.

"Is that your biggest concern?" Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak asked Shell during cross-examination.

Shell also said he wanted to convey to Franklin's family how much he shares in their grief over her death. If he'd realized how serious Franklin's drug problem was, he said, he would have pushed harder for her to get treatment.

"He's not accepted responsibility," Rehak said after the hearing.

Members of Franklin's family watched as Shell was sentenced, with the remains of Franklin's father, Dale, in a wooden urn sitting along side them.

Dale Franklin died of liver disease in a North Carolina hospital during Shell's trial.

Dale Franklin "descended into grief" after his daughter's death, said Leigh Greene, his sister, "and none of us were able to help mend his heart."

"I think that's the perfect ending," Greene, said after Shell's sentencing. "He got what he deserved."

Shell's attorney, Jonathon Venzie, filed a notice of appeal as soon as Friday's hearing came to a close. He had asked the judge to seriously consider following guidelines that would have called for Shell, now 60, to serve a maximum of three years in prison.

Venzie also asked the judge to release Shell on bond, perhaps place him on house arrest, so Shell could help him sort through the paperwork that has accumulated since Franklin's death on June 3, 2003, for the appeals process.

Showalter denied the request -- a request that Rehak called absurd -- and a handcuffed Shell was returned to the New River Valley Regional Jail in Dublin after the hearing.

"We're talking about having a stack of papers four-feet high in a jail cell," something that isn't practical both for security and privacy reasons, Venzie said. No one is more familiar with the case than Shell, and his work will be vital to filing an appeal, Venzie said.

"Mr. Shell can read in jail," Rehak responded.

Rehak also scoffed at the guidelines that would have called for a maximum of three years in prison for Shell. That number was attained primarily by looking at the average sentence given to someone who distributes morphine, without taking into consideration the severity of Shell's other convictions.

In addition to involuntary manslaughter, Shell was convicted of two counts of distributing morphine; two counts of attempted animate object sexual penetration; and one count each of attempted forcible sodomy, distributing diazepam and possessing morphine.

In creating guidelines, the practice is to look at the charge that could carry the most severe punishment, which in Shell's case was the morphine distribution charge.

"Lost in the guidelines is the manslaughter. Lost is the sex crimes," Rehak told the court. "They don't reflect the gravity of this crime."

"Passions run high in a case like this" and the purpose of the guidelines is to keep those passions from playing a factor in sentencing, Venzie said.

Venzie said he expects the appeals process will be time-consuming and difficult.

Rehak said he's ready to try the case a second time if need be.

"Radford juries this year have sent a clear message that they can sit through long cases" and are not afraid to convict, he said.

After a six-day trial, a jury in March sentenced William Gutersloh, a former Radford University student from New York, to life plus five years in prison for the death of Lori Pleasants, a former Radford student from Danville.

In sentencing Shell on Friday, Showalter moved to put an end to this Radford trial, one which stretched on for four years, through three defense attorneys, two prosecutors and two judges.