Florida inmate whose case changed juvenile sentencing laws has prison term reduced

2-26-2012 National:

Terrance Graham has his life-without-parole sentence dropped to 25 years in prison, after a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that states could no longer sentence anyone under 18 to life without parole for crimes less serious than murder.

Reporting from Jacksonville, Fla.— A Florida man who was the subject of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the prison terms imposed upon juveniles has had his sentence reduced from life without parole to 25 years in prison.

Terrance Graham's sentence as a teenager was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2010. In the resentencing, U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Lance M. Day noted that the Florida Legislature had failed to provide a mechanism for implementing the Supreme Court's ruling or provide judges with resentencing guidelines.

Graham, who has been in prison eight years, is slated to be released in 2029, at the age of 42.

Graham was 16 when he pleaded guilty to taking part in an armed robbery in a Florida barbecue restaurant. A year later, he was arrested for a home-invasion robbery. Under a Florida law that allowed juveniles to be treated as adults, Graham was sentenced to life without parole.

But in May 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision in Graham's case that states could no longer sentence anyone under 18 to life without parole for crimes less serious than murder.

Day's ruling Friday followed a three-day resentencing hearing that covered Graham's troubled childhood and a debate over whether the inmate, now 25, was capable of maturing into a responsible adult or was forever stuck in adolescence.

Graham was described as a child who grew up in an unstable family with drug-addicted parents who moved around Jacksonville's poor neighborhoods. Graham's great-aunt testified that Terrance and his siblings were beaten, neglected and verbally abused by their mother.

Day said Graham's horrific childhood explained, but did not excuse, his conduct.

Psychologist Randy Otto, who testified for the defense, said Graham showed evidence of maturity with his determination to get his high school diploma in prison, which is not normally available to inmates serving life without parole. And he had only a handful of disciplinary infractions, none of which involved violence or aggression, though he thought he had no chance of release and nothing to lose, Otto said.

Forensic psychologist William Meadows disagreed. He said Graham has an antisocial personality disorder that is unlikely to change as he grows older. He will remain a man ruled by impulse, anger and immaturity, Meadows testified.

"For people with antisocial personality disorders, they stay stuck in adolescence," said Meadows, who testified for the state. ..Source.. by Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel