RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The N.C. Court of Appeals has ruled that a 16-year-old sentenced to life in prison without parole for murder will get a new sentencing hearing because the trial court judge didn’t sufficiently explain the absence or presence of mitigating factors.
In a unanimous ruling issued Tuesday, the court ordered a new trial for 16-year-old Harry Sharod James, who was indicted in June 2006 and convicted four years later.
The Appeals Court said it’s unclear from the trial court’s order whether many of its findings are mitigating or not. The higher court said the trial court’s order is insufficient and that it must identify what it considered mitigating and what it did not.
James was convicted of killing Curtis Jenkins during an armed robbery and stealing Jenkins’ car.
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