RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina’s highest court says there’s no legal presumption young people convicted of first-degree murder should receive life in prison without parole.
A state Supreme Court majority ruled Friday in the case of a Mecklenburg County defendant sentenced for a 2006 murder committed at age 16.
Life without parole was then automatic, but the U.S. Supreme Court later declared such mandatory sentences for juveniles cruel and unusual punishment. At resentencing, a judge still gave Harry Sharod James life without parole. James’ attorneys appealed.
Friday’s majority opinion said updated laws provide “alternative sentencing options” of life with or without parole in most murder cases. The justices still returned the case to the trial court.
Two dissenting justices said there’s a presumption making it harder for juveniles to avoid life without parole.
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