By Jeannie Nuss
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ highest court says a man sentenced to life in prison without parole when he was 14 years old deserves a new sentencing hearing.
The state Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a new sentencing hearing for Kuntrell Jackson, whose case was one of two that led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year throwing out mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles.
The Arkansas Supreme Court says a judge should consider evidence about Jackson’s age and the nature of the crime when determining a new sentence.
Jackson was sentenced to life in prison after the shooting death of a store clerk during an attempted robbery in 1999. Another boy shot the clerk, but Jackson was present, and so he was convicted of capital murder and aggravated robbery.