JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court says a man convicted of murder as a teenager and sentenced to life in prison deserves a resentencing.
Supreme Court judges on Tuesday ruled 5-1 that Jason Carr’s sentence violates his rights against cruel and unusual punishment.
Carr was convicted in 1983 of killing his brother, stepmom and stepsister when he was 16 years old. He received three sentences of life in prison without possibility of parole for 50 years.
The judges say that was wrong because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against mandatory life sentences for juvenile killers without opportunity for parole.
The state’s high court also on Tuesday ruled it’s OK in some cases for juveniles convicted of multiple crimes to serve consecutive sentences that effectively amount to life in prison.