State v. Conner

Summary

The court held that consecutive sentences imposed on a juvenile who was not found incorrigible or irredeemable cannot delay the opportunity to seek parole beyond forty years of incarceration. Because defendant's consecutive sentences delayed parole eligibility for forty-five years, they constituted an unconstitutional de facto life-without-parole sentence under the federal and state constitutional protections against cruel punishment. The court reversed the Court of Appeals on the sentencing issue and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.