White v. Premo

Summarized by:

  • Court: Oregon Supreme Court
  • Area(s) of Law: Post-Conviction Relief
  • Date Filed: 05-31-2019
  • Case #: S065223
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Walters, C.J. for the Court; Balmer, J.; Nakamoto, J.; Flynn, J.; Nelson, J.; Kistler, S.J.; & Brewer S.J.
  • Full Text Opinion

In order to impose a life sentence without parole on a juvenile who commits a homicide, the homicide must reflect the juvenile's "irreparable corruption rather than the transient immaturity of youth." Miller v. Alabama, 567 US 460, 479-80, 132 S Ct 2455, 183 L Ed 2d 407 (2012).

Petitioner was convicted of aggravated murder and received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, along with an 800-month determinate sentence for the murder of another victim.  Petitioner assigned error to the post-conviction court's decision to impose the 800-month sentence without parole on a juvenile as it was a de facto life sentence.  Petitioner argued that the record did not establish the requisite "irreparable corruption" required by Miller v. Alabama, 567 US 460, 132 S Ct 2455, 183 L Ed 2d 407 (2012).  In order to impose a life sentence without parole on a juvenile who commits a homicide, the homicide must reflect the juvenile's "irreparable corruption rather than the transient immaturity of youth." Id. at 479-80.  The Court held that the post-conviction court erred in applying the 800-month sentence without reaching the conclusion that petitioner was "one of the rare juvenile offenders who is irreparably depraved or that no reasonable sentencing court could reach any other conclusion." 

The decision of the  Court of Appeals was reversed, the judgment of the circuit court was reversed, and the case was remanded to the circuit court for further proceedings.

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