May 24, 2013
Florida courts are facing some challenging issues after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled juveniles cannot automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In a ruling on Friday, a three judge panel in Tallahassee ordered a new sentencing hearing for a teenager who received life without parole for a Jacksonville killing.
The panel, though, declined to offer guidance on what the new sentence should be.
The high court last year decided judges must consider age and other factors when sentencing juvenile killers.
Florida is among states requiring life without parole for some types of murder.
The new Florida ruling came in the case of Thomas Partlow. He was 16 three years ago when he stabbed and robbed a man of $3.
