COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A divided Ohio Supreme Court has overturned a convicted rapist’s 112-year prison sentence imposed for crimes committed when he was 15.
The court ruled 4-3 Thursday that the 2008 sentence given to Brandon Moore constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and violates a U.S. Supreme Court mandate against life sentences for juvenile crimes not involving homicides.
Moore was tried as an adult and convicted by a jury in the 2001 armed kidnapping, robbery and gang rape of a 22-year-old Youngstown State University student.
Prosecutors argued Moore’s sentence is constitutional because it involved multiple and consecutive sentences and not a single sentence of life without parole.
Moore’s attorneys said such lengthy sentences for juveniles who didn’t commit homicides must provide meaningful opportunity for release.
Moore will now be resentenced.