Garza v. Texas (Original)
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In November 2011, a jury convicted appellant James Garza of capital murder for his involvement in the stabbing death of the complainant for the purpose of stealing the complainant's car. The State waived the death penalty because appellant was a juvenile at the time of the murder. Immediately upon conviction, appellant was sentenced to life without parole. No sentencing hearing was conducted, and "[n]o objection was voiced to the procedure employed or to the imposition of the sentence imposed." On appeal, appellant challenged the imposition of his life-without-parole sentence arguing that, because he was a juvenile, the sentence violated his Eighth Amendment rights as defined by the United States Supreme Court's decision in "Miller v. Alabama." The Court of Appeals refused to review his claim and held that, by failing to lodge an objection in the trial court, appellant forfeited this claim on appeal. Upon review of the matter, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the court of appeals' decision because it conflicted with the Court's subsequently delivered opinion in "Ex parte Maxwell."
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