People v. Palafox
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of two special circumstance murders and sentence to consecutive terms of life in prison. On appeal, defendant contended that his sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the federal and state constitutions. The court concluded that the sentence is constitutional despite the trial court's inability to exclude the possibility of rehabilitation; no particular factor, relevant to the decision whether to impose life without the possibility of parole on a juvenile who has committed murder, predominates under the law; as long as a trial court gives due consideration to an offender's youth and attendant circumstances, pursuant to Miller v. Alabama, it may, in exercising its discretion under Penal Code section 190.5, subdivision (b), give sch weight to the relevant factors as it reasonably determines is appropriate under all the circumstances of the case. Accordingly, the court affirmed the sentence, concluding that it did not violate the federal or state constitution.
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