KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A federal judge has ordered a new sentencing hearing for a man serving a life sentence for his role in a 1988 explosion that killed six Kansas City firefighters.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan on Monday set aside Bryan Sheppard’s life sentence. The judge told attorneys to submit new sentencing memos to him by Sept. 26.
Sheppard, who was 17 at the time of the explosion, was one of five people convicted in the firefighters’ deaths. They all have maintained their innocence.
The Kansas City Star reports (https://bit.ly/VM4s7i ) Sheppard argued he deserved a new sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that mandatory life without parole sentences for people under 18 at the time of their crimes were unconstitutional.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star, https://www.kcstar.com
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