| Date: | 09/14/2018 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
Commonwealth v. Perez
Supreme Judicial Court, September 14, 2018
(Juvenile/Sentencing)
A juvenile who commits non-homicide offenses is presumptively eligible for parole no later than a juvenile convicted of murder (15 years), unless the Commonwealth proves that both the crimes themselves and the characteristics of the juvenile present extraordinary circumstances justifying the longer sentence.
“The criminal conduct must be extraordinary and thus comparable to murder, and the personal characteristics of the juvenile must also be extraordinary in that they necessitate a parole eligibility period longer than that available for a juvenile murderer, because there is no reasonable possibility of redemption in less than that period of time.”