<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def get_span_char_height(span, row_heights):
 """ Get the height of a span in the number of newlines it fills. Parameters span : list of list of int A list of [row, column] pairs that make up the span row_heights : list of int A list of the number of newlines for each row in the table Returns ------- total_height : int The height of the span in number of newlines """

    start_row = span[0][0]
    row_count = get_span_row_count(span)
    total_height = 0

    for i in range(start_row, start_row + row_count):
        total_height += row_heights[i]
    total_height += row_count - 1

    return total_height