232 results for 'cat:"Murder" AND cat:"Sentencing"'.
J. Menetrez finds that the trial court should have granted defendant's petition for compassionate release from a 75-year sentence for first degree murder, as no evidence supported its dangerousness finding. He retains some ability to speak despite rapidly progressing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that severely limits his physical capacity and will likely cause his death within a year. But he has never solicited anyone to commit a crime or committed a crime in concert with anyone, and neither his gang affiliations nor lack of remorse mean he poses an unreasonable risk of committing a super strike crime if released. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Menetrez, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: E082085, Categories: murder, sentencing, Gangs
J. Viramontes finds that the trial court erred in denying defendant's petition for resentencing on attempted murder and manslaughter convictions. The record of conviction, which was based on a plea, does not bar his eligibility for resentencing at the prima facie stage. Neither the plea nor the preliminary hearing record established that he was the actual killer, had the intent to kill, demonstrated actual malice or acted with reckless indifference. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Viramontes, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: B324576, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Streeter finds the lower court properly denied defendant’s petition for relief. Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery and sentenced to 50 years to life. He was granted a resentencing hearing after a lower court found he was denied counsel, and though the same errors were repeated during the resentencing hearing, the instant court finds them harmless. Evidence is sufficient to support defendant’s convictions and sentence, along with associated enhancements. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Streeter, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: A166001, Categories: murder, sentencing, Self Representation
J. Castillo finds the trial court properly denied defendant's petition for resentencing on a second degree murder conviction. He claimed his due process rights were violated because he was not present at the proceeding where his petition was denied. But he was present at a previous hearing that functioned as the statutory resentencing hearing, when the parties were able to submit additional evidence and both parties agreed to submit the matter to the trial court. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Castillo, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: D081369, Categories: murder, sentencing, Due Process
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J. Tabor finds that a minimum mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole in 50 years was properly imposed after defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, which he committed at age 17, as the lower court performed a thorough analysis before handing down sentence. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tabor, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-2079, Categories: Juvenile Law, murder, sentencing
J. Lui finds that the trial court properly denied defendants' petitions for resentencing on felony murder convictions. Defendants could be convicted of felony murder under current law despite changes to statute. The evidence shows one defendant had the specific intent to kill and both were major participants in a kidnapping that resulted in death and that they acted with reckless indifference to human life. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lui, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: B322561, Categories: murder, sentencing, Kidnapping
J. Delaney finds that the trial court properly denied defendant an evidentiary hearing for resentencing on a felony murder conviction. He admitted to having the intent to kill but argued that he did not assist the actual killer in the killing so he lacked the actus reus required for felony murder. The actus reus element was satisfied because, while possessing the intent to kill, he was engaged in the underlying felonies of rape and robbery in furtherance of a common design. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Delaney, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: G061916, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Hervy dismisses a citizen’s appeal of the trial court’s competency determination for his intellectual disability claim after the court signed the “Agreed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.” The appeals court granted habeas relief by changing his sentence from death to life imprisonment without parole.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Hervy, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: AP-77093, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Felix finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder, criminal recklessness, resisting and neglect of a dependent. Defendant, with his toddler son, attended a birthday party at his sister's residence where he engaged in an argument with her fiancé. Defendant shot the victim 18 times before fleeing with his son. The court properly prevented defendant's additional question impeaching his sister’s testimony. Defendant's claim of self-defense fails, and his sentence is not inappropriate considering the nature of the offenses, regardless of his lack of a criminal record. Affirmed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: Felix , Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22A-CR-3007, Categories: murder, sentencing, Escape
J. O'Leary finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's peremptory challenge to the judge assigned to preside over his resentencing hearing. Peremptory challenges are only available prior to adjudication, and statute requires that the same judge who sentenced a defendant, including cases resolved in plea deals, preside over resentencing.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: O'Leary, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: G062526, Categories: murder, sentencing, Plea
J. Garrett finds the post-conviction court properly declined to remand defendant’s capital murder case for resentencing after recent changes to the law. “Governor’s commuted sentence became the operative sentence, as though it had been the sentence originally imposed, and, as a result, petitioner is not entitled to relief concerning the judicially imposed sentence that had been the focus of the post-conviction court’s inquiry.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Supreme Court, Judge: Garrett, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: S070162, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Hiland finds the circuit court properly denied defendant's petition for postconviction relief. Defendant was convicted for murder, aggravated robbery, and a firearm enhancement, receiving sentences of life, 35 years and 15 years. The 35-year sentence for aggravated robbery is within statutory guidelines and not unconstitutional. Although no written instruction deleting the life sentence option was proffered, trial counsel made a sufficient enough record to preserve the argument, and claims of ineffective assistance fail. The jury did not enter a life sentence on the aggravated-robbery charge, and there is no evidence showing a different instruction would have resulted in a different sentence. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Hiland , Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: CR-23-354, Categories: Constitution, murder, sentencing
J. Ayers finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of felony murder by aggravated child abuse, felony murder by aggravated child neglect, two counts of aggravated child abuse, reckless endangerment, aggravated child neglect and two counts of child abuse. Defendant beat a three-year-old girl while he babysat her, resulting in massive head trauma and ultimately the child’s death. The lower court took into account the instant matter along with defendant’s criminal history, resulting in an effective sentence of life imprisonment plus 48 years. Defendant argues he should not have received partial consecutive sentences, but the instant court finds no error. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Ayers, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: M2022-01529-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: murder, sentencing, Child Victims
J. Lindsey finds the trial court properly denied defendant's pro se motion to vacate what he claims is an illegal sentence of life in prison with the potential of parole after 25 years plus consecutive 30-year sentences he received when he was a juvenile after being convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder. Defendant's arguments about the structure of his sentences have already been raised, considered and rejected by the appeals court, so his sentences stand. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lindsey, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 23-0025, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Kruger holds that the appeals court improperly concluded that defendant is entitled to a parole hearing despite the life without parole sentence he received for murdering his elderly neighbor when he was 25. The legislature expanded youth offender parole hearings to include most young adult offenders, but equal protection rights do not constitutionally compel that parole become available to defendants convicted of special circumstance murder. Reversed.
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Kruger, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: S277487, Categories: murder, sentencing, Equal Protection
J. Wilson finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to a 40 year to life sentence after he was convicted for murder. The defendant argued that he is entitled to a sentencing modification, and that he never received a reply from the court clerk. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that he received an order in the mail and that his claims are untimely. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 122246, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Wilson finds a lower court properly dismissed a defendant's motion for a life sentence modification. The defendant, who is serving a life sentence for a murder conviction, argued that he never received correspondence concerning the denial of his motion. However, the state presented sufficient evidence in court that a clerk's notation was forwarded to him. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 122246, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Shanker vacates the trial court's refusal to grant defendant, who was convicted of first-degree murder and other offenses when he was 19 and sentenced to life imprisonment, early release under the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act. The trial court improperly considered the degree to which the "'hallmark features of youth'" played a role in the crime. Vacated.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Shanker, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 22-CO-0650 , Categories: Juvenile Law, murder, sentencing
J. Mooney finds the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision properly declined to reduce defendant’s life sentence for aggravated murder of his wife. The board cited “petitioner’s unwillingness to enter AA or any similar twelve-step recovery program, his continued lack of insight into his crimes and the impact of those crimes on others, and his unwillingness to fully commit to severing his relationship with his daughters.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: A178249, Categories: murder, Parole, sentencing
J. Yegan finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's petition for resentencing on a first degree murder conviction with a special circumstance of kidnapping. He directly aided and abetted the murder with an intentional plan to kill. "Leniency for a person who orders his cohorts to murder a 15-year-old child with a machine gun? The child is dead and our answer is, no." Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Yegan, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: B323018, Categories: murder, sentencing, Kidnapping
J. Levy finds, on first impression, that changes to statutory definitions of malice and the degrees of murder did not abolish the doctrine of transferred intent. Therefore, the trial court properly denied defendant's petition for resentencing on a first degree murder conviction for the death of an unintended victim. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Levy, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: F086179, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Buchanan finds that the trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing on defendant's claim for resentencing on a manslaughter conviction. He made a prima facie case for resentencing on the conviction, which was the result of a guilty plea to a lesser included offense of a charged murder, and the record is insufficient to determine whether he could be convicted of murder under current law. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Buchanan, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: D082071, Categories: murder, sentencing, Manslaughter
J. Witt finds the lower court properly sentenced defendant. Defendant pleaded guilty to second degree murder and attempted second degree murder, and received an effective 40-year sentence to be served consecutive to sentences he received for prior convictions. The effective sentence consisted of 40 years for the second degree murder conviction and 30 years for the attempted second degree murder conviction, running concurrently. Despite defendant’s claim that his sentence is illegal and that he should have received consecutive sentences for the two convictions rather than the effective 40-years he received, the instant court finds his sentence legal and he is not entitled to relief. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Witt, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: M2023-00948-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: murder, sentencing
J. Poochigian finds that the trial court improperly redesignated defendant's murder conviction as a burglary conviction in response to his resentencing petition, and must redesignate it as an attempted robbery conviction. Robbery, not burglary, was the underlying felony of his felony-murder conviction. Reversed
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Poochigian, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: F086065, Categories: Criminal Procedure, murder, sentencing
J. Raphael finds the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to vacate his voluntary manslaughter conviction after he pleaded guilty to a murder charge. The man claims he was not alone when he stabbed the victim, and that he was defending himself. The investigators recounted the admission that he acted alone, and nothing suggested there was an accomplice. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Raphael, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: E080611, Categories: murder, sentencing, Manslaughter
J. Standridge finds a lower court properly convicted a defendant on two counts of first- degree premeditated murder of two female victims. The defendant, who was sentenced to 146 months in prison and two consecutive life sentences, argued that the lower court abused discretion by allowing the state to present gruesome autopsy photos during trial. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the photographs in question were properly admitted and were not considered unduly prejudicial. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Standridge, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 124535, Categories: Burglary, murder, sentencing
J. Alley finds a lower court did not err in sentencing defendant to 55 years in prison for murder. Defendant, who was delusional at the time of the incident but did not seek an insanity defense, argued the sentence was too long and therefore violated “the rehabilitation objective of the Texas Penal Code,” but defendant did not preserve error for review — and even if he did, “a sentence that falls within the statutory range of punishment is not an abuse of discretion.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Alley, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 08-23-00142-CR, Categories: Competence, murder, sentencing