Ohio top court says Brandon Moore's sentence unconstitutional

YOUNGSTOWN

A Mahoning County defendant’s 112-year sentence for rape, aggravated robbery and kidnapping he committed as a juvenile, with eligibility for judicial release when he turns 92, is unconstitutional, and he must be resentenced, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The 4-3 ruling said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision barring life sentences or imprisonment without parole for juvenile non-homicide offenders also prohibits “term-of-years” prison sentences that exceed the defendant’s life expectancy.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Graham v. Florida ruling declared that a life-without-parole sentence for a juvenile who did not commit homicide violated the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

Brandon Moore received maximum consecutive sentences from Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after he was convicted as an adult for crimes he committed Aug. 21, 2001, when he was 15.

The majority consisted of Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Judith Ann Lanzinger, William M. O’Neill and Paul E. Pfeifer.

Dissenters were Justices Sharon L. Kennedy, Terrence O’Donnell and Judith L. French.

In the majority opinion, Justice Pfeifer wrote Moore must be provided some chance earlier in his incarceration to “demonstrate maturity and rehabilitation,” but did not specify when that should be.

Read more about the case in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.