Defendants, age 17 at time of offenses, were convicted, after separate jury trials, of 1st degree murder, arson, and burglary, and sentenced to natural life in prison for murder and a concurrent 7-year sentence for burglary and a consecutive 30-year sentence for arson. When convictions stem from a single course of events within a short time span, a trial court should, when resentencing a juvenile Defendant pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 Miller v. Alabama decision, resentence the aggregate sentences. Trial court's finding that a life sentence was not appropriate for these Defendants is in conflict with the de facto life sentences that it gave, in light of recent case law. Trial court did not make a finding of permanent incorrigibility, irretrievable depravity, or irreparable corruption, but implicitly found Defendants had the capacity for rehabilitation by the time of their release date. Reversed and remanded with directions to conduct a resentencing hearing promptly before a different judge. (HALL and LAMPKIN, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Juvenile Sentencing