BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - An attorney for a man who fatally shot a West Fargo woman in 1995 is asking the North Dakota Supreme Court to give him a chance at parole.
Barry Garcia is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Cheryl Tendeland while she, her husband and a friend were sitting in a car.
KFGO reports defense attorney John Mills told justices that North Dakota law permits minors serving long sentences to seek parole after serving 20 years. But, Cass County State’s Attorney Birch Burdick says the legislative intent was not to change the law retroactively.
The defense has also cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a life sentence without parole for juveniles was cruel and unusual punishment. Garcia was 16 at the time of the shooting.
The high court did not immediately rule.
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Information from: KFGO-AM, http://www.kfgo.com
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