HB323 Alabama 2016 Session

Under existing law, a person convicted of capital murder is sentenced to either the term of life without the possibility of parole or death. A person also must be sentenced to a minimum term of life without the possibility of parole for certain non-homicide offenses

This bill would provide that a person under the age of 18 years at the time of the offense convicted of a capital offense or certain non-capital offenses punishable by a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole, may, in the alternative, be sentenced to life imprisonment, in order to comply with recent United States Supreme Court decisions in Miller v. Alabama and Graham v. Florida

To amend Sections 13A-5-2, as last amended by Act 2015-463, 13A-5-39, 13A-5-43, and 13A-6-2, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to capital offenses, to provide that a person convicted of a capital offense committed when under the age of 18 years may, in the alternative, be sentenced to life imprisonment; to provide generally that a person convicted of a non-homicide crime committed when under the age of 18 years is subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, rather than life imprisonment without parole; and to provide a burden of proof.