Issue

Eighth Amendment—juvenile offender—life imprisonment without parole—separate review of state constitutional claim not required

Summary

The decision of the Court of Appeals upholding the trial court's imposition of consecutive sentences of life imprisonment without parole–for two first-degree murders committed when defendant was seventeen years old–was affirmed where, contrary to defendant's assertion, the appellate court properly analyzed each of defendant's challenges to his sentences under federal and state constitutional provisions. Even so, since the sentences did not violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides greater protections for juvenile offenders than Art. I, sec. 27 of the North Carolina Constitution, and since the Eighth Amendment and section 27 have been interpreted in lockstep, a separate review of defendant's state constitutional claim was unnecessary. Further, defendant's sentences did not implicate–and thus were not in violation of–State v. Kelliher, 381 N.C. 558 (2022), because he was not a member of the narrow class of juvenile offenders to which that case applied.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →