LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday refused to overturn a 90-year prison term imposed during the mandatory resentencing of a man who was convicted in a 1990 Omaha killing when he was 16 years old.
Christopher Garza originally was convicted of first-degree murder and handed an automatic life sentence without parole for the slaying of Christina O’Day.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juvenile killers must not be sentenced to automatic life terms without parole, so Garza was resentenced in February. He then appealed his new 90-year sentence, arguing the district court abused its discretion by imposing an excessive term.
The Nebraska high court said in its ruling released Friday that the district judge considered all relevant sentencing factors and imposed a new sentence within the statutory limits and supported by the record.
“The (district) court acknowledged and gave credence to Garza’s efforts to rehabilitate himself while in prison, but stated it also had ’to balance the nature of the offense and what was done to that young lady,’” the justices said.
Defense lawyer Annie Hayden said she was considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A spokeswoman for the Nebraska attorney general said the state attorneys would have no comment on the decision.
O’Day was babysitting an 8-year-old girl at a neighbor’s house while the girl’s mother worked a night shift when O’Day was killed. O’Day was raped while the girl hid in a bedroom next door. A pathologist said O’Day’s death was caused by one of three things: a deep cut to her right wrist, strangulation from an electrical cord tied tightly around her neck or asphyxiation from a scarf and hat used to gag her.
Garza, who has been in prison for nearly 26 years, could be eligible for parole in 2038 and would have to be released in 2045 under Nebraska law.
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