The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a former juvenile lifer’s sentence in the defendant’s third direct appeal. The Court remanded the case after the defendant’s first two appeals, finding the trial court abused its discretion when the court sentenced the defendant. In this appeal, the defendant’s primary argument was that the trial court imposed a de facto life sentence because he would not be eligible for parole until he was 66 years old. The Superior Court affirmed the sentence, ruling that the defendant will have a meaningful opportunity to obtain his release. Furthermore, the defendant’s claims that the trial “court imposed an excessive sentence, failed to consider mitigating factors, and did not properly apply the statutory factors in 18 Pa.C.S. § 1102.1(d) and 42 Pa.C.S. § 9721(b)” were not meritorious.
