Supreme Court of Connecticut
State v. Santiago
August 25, 2015
Summary
Justice Eveleigh concurred in the court's decision to remand Eduardo Santiago for a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of release, reasoning that Connecticut's prospective repeal of capital punishment made execution of prerepeal offenders constitutionally impermissible. She concluded that the prospective effective-date distinction lacked a valid deterrent or retributive purpose and created an arbitrary capital-sentencing scheme. She further concluded that the unconstitutional provisions retaining death sentences were severable from the repeal provisions. No separate opinions were provided.