Townsend vs. State
Annotate this CaseIn Minnesota, the defendant, Otha Eric Townsend, who was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, appealed the denial of his third motion to correct his sentence. The two crimes were tried separately, and Townsend was first sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of release after 30 years for the murder conviction. Months later, he was sentenced to serve 72 months in prison consecutively to his life sentence for the attempted murder conviction. Townsend argued that custody credit should be applied to the first of his two consecutive sentences. However, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the law of the case doctrine barred Townsend's appeal. The court stated that they had already decided in previous rulings that Townsend was not entitled to custody credit on his life sentence and that the district court properly applied custody credit to Townsend’s sentence for attempted second-degree murder. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's decision and denied Townsend's motion to correct his sentence.
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