Smith v. State (Majority)
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial in 1977, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Appellant was sixteen years old at the time of the offense. In 2013, Appellant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, asserting that, in accordance with Miller v. Alabama, his life sentence was invalid on its face because the sentencer did not hold a hearing to consider mitigating factors relating to his youth before imposing the maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The petition was denied. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Miller was inapplicable to Appellant’s case because Appellant’s 1977 sentence to life imprisonment for first-degree murder was not mandatory and the sentencer was permitted to consider sentencing-related mitigating evidence.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.