LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) - A Nebraska man sentenced to life in prison as a teenager for killing a police officer is seeking his freedom in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down such sentences.
Eric McCain is asking a Dawson County District Court judge to order his release from prison, the Kearney Hub reported (https://bit.ly/1h1c8rE ) on Saturday.
McCain has been in prison since 1990, when he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole at the age of 17. He was convicted of first-degree murder for the July 2, 1990, shooting death of Gothenburg Police Sgt. Glenn Haas at the small south-central Nebraska town’s police station.
McCain initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but later pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors to drop a weapons charge.
Last year, state lawmakers enacted a measure that ends mandatory life sentences for juveniles who commit first-degree murder. The guidelines now call for a sentence of 40 years to life for the juveniles.
The law was introduced in the wake of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile killers is unconstitutional.
McCain argues that he is eligible to be considered for parole because he has served more than half the 40-year minimum established by Nebraska’s new juvenile sentencing law.
District Judge James Doyle set McCain’s next hearing on the request for May 16.
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Information from: Kearney Hub, https://www.kearneyhub.com/
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