The defendant appealed after he was re-sentenced for a murder he committed as a juvenile. He argued the trial court’s sentence of 48 years to life was illegal as a de facto life sentence, where he was not found to be permanently incorrigible, irreparably corrupt, or irretrievably depraved. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed. The Court ruled that the sentence was not a de facto life sentence because the defendant will have a meaningful opportunity to obtain his release from prison when he is 65 years old.
