Defendant, age 16 at time of offense, was convicted of 1st degree murder, after 2 persons were hit on the head with a club; one survived but one died due to multiple brain injuries.Defendant's sentence of 50 years, with day-for-day sentencing credit, is not a de facto life sentence, as he is scheduled to be paroled at age 41. Case does not fall within the category of cases considered by U.S. Supreme Court decision in Miller and its progeny, that life sentences for juvenile defendants violate the 8th amendment. Mitigating evidence was presented, and there was no indication that court did not consider it. Court did not err in denying in denying, at 3rd-stage, Defendant's successive postconviction petition which claimed that sentencing court failed to consider his youth in determining sentence. (HOLDRIDGE and WRIGHT, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Post-Conviction Petitions