A state court has overturned the life sentence of a Jacksonville teen who was 16 when he robbed and stabbed a man to death in 2010. The 1st District Court of Appeal overturned the sentence last week because of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found life sentences without parole for juveniles were unconstitutional, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union.
The reversal is the latest sticky issue when it comes to sentencing juveniles in Jacksonville and all over the state of Florida. Life sentences for crimes other that murder were already determined unconstitutional, and it was a Jacksonville Juvenile Gun Crimes case that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on to establish precedent. With murder added, it directly conflicts with Florida law that requires anyone convicted of first-degree murder to be sentenced to either life in prison or the death penalty. The appellate court did not specify what should be done in the next sentence for Thomas Partlow, who along with two friends robbed a man of $3 and then stabbed and killed him, the newspaper reported.
The larger issue that will likely have to be addressed then is whether the state will be able to charge youth as adults in first-degree murder cases. Jacksonville was once more in the national spotlight after local prosecutors charged 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez with first-degree murder in 2011 in connection with the death of his 2-year-old half-brother. Lawyers for Fernandez have sought to have the charge dropped because of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, but the motion was denied. Fernandez is scheduled for trial in March.