Justices: Sure life term inapt for try to kill at 17

A lower court was wrong in dismissing an appeal from a man serving a life sentence for a violent crime he committed at 17, the Arkansas Supreme Court said Thursday.

The state's highest court agreed with the argument made by Steven Bramlett that his sentence of life without parole after a 1979 negotiated guilty plea to attempted capital murder was unconstitutional. The court sent the case back to Jefferson County Circuit Court.

Bramlett, now 54, filed a complaint in 2011 seeking declaratory relief from the sentence. Representing himself, he argued that a life sentence without eligibility for parole was unconstitutional.

Bramlett, who asked for a new sentence, based his argument on a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Florida, which found that minors convicted of a nonhomicide offense could not be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

To do so, the court found, would violate the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which bars any "cruel and unusual punishment."

In late 2011, state attorneys filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Bramlett failed to present facts upon which his relief could be granted, and asked that the judge render a summary judgment in their favor.

In March 2012, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jodi Dennis granted the state's motion and dismissed Bramlett's requests, arguing that there is a "slim line" between people accused of intentionally killing someone and intentionally trying to kill someone yet failing to do so.

"Should a person who intends to kill, acts upon that intention but is a poor shot be held less culpable than one who intends to kill, acts upon that intention but is a good shot?" the ruling said. "Although Bramlett's victim survived, he admitted that he intended to kill her when he shot her multiple times. But for his poor aim, she would be dead."

Dennis wrote that criminal attempt to commit capital murder "falls within the category of a homicide offense" and that, according to precedent, is subject to life without parole.

In his appeal to the state Supreme Court, Bramlett argued that state attorneys misconstrued language from the Graham v. Florida ruling and that his crime, which did not result in a death, should bar him from having a life sentence without parole.

"The crux of the issue in Bramlett's appeal," wrote Justice Karen Baker, "is whether, under Arkansas law, attempted capital murder is a homicide offense for purposes of [Graham v. Florida]."

Through a review of case law, some reaching back as far as 1879, Baker evaluated different definitions of homicide and how they applied to Arkansas' criminal statutes for charges of capital murder, first-degree murder, and others.

Baker's opinion pointed out that state attorneys' reliance on another case, one that involved a teenager convicted of both homicide and nonhomicide offenses, weakened their argument.

"We hold that attempted capital murder is not a homicide offense for purposes of [Graham v. Florida]," Baker wrote. "In sum, our own state law regarding that definition of homicide and the [Graham decision] dictate that attempted capital murder is not a homicide offense. ... Therefore we reverse and remand this matter to the circuit court."

The case will return to Dennis' court. Neither Dennis nor officials from the Jefferson County prosecuting attorney's office returned calls for comment to discuss how the case will proceed.

Bramlett remained at the Cummins Unit prison in Gould on Thursday night.

Metro on 04/10/2015

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