State v. Taylor G.

Summary

The court affirmed the defendant’s convictions and ten-year effective sentence for sexual offenses committed when he was fourteen and fifteen. It held that the mandatory minimum sentences did not violate the Eighth Amendment because they were substantially less severe than the punishments previously invalidated for juvenile offenders and the sentencing court retained broad discretion to consider youth and impose a sentence above the minimum. The court also upheld the admission of the expert’s general testimony about sexually abused children and declined to review the challenge to prior-misconduct evidence because it was not preserved.