"As teens, both were prosecuted in adult court for murder. Both received sentences so long that they assumed they would die in prison. Both are now free. Their cases are part of the legal backdrop for a high-profile resentencing fight involving Charles Andrew Andy Williams, who was a freshman at Santana High School in Santee in March 2001 when he opened fire on campus, killing two classmates and wounding 13 others. He was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison."
"Last month, a San Diego judge ruled that Williams' sentence is the functional equivalent of life without parole and ordered his case sent back to juvenile court for resentencing. Had the attack happened today, Williams, 40, would be tried as a juvenile and generally could not be held in custody beyond age 25. Despite the wholesale change in how California sentences juvenile offenders, outrage over the crime has not faded."
California's youth-sentencing laws assume teenagers think differently than adults and allow different treatment and resentencing for those tried as adults. Frank Heard and United Levao were prosecuted as adults for murder as teens, received extremely long sentences, and later gained freedom under changing law. Charles Andrew "Andy" Williams, who killed two classmates and wounded 13 others in a 2001 Santana High School shooting, was sentenced to 60 years to life. A San Diego judge ruled that sentence functionally equals life without parole and ordered transfer to juvenile court for resentencing. The ruling has angered victims' families and reopened debate over release eligibility for teenage killers.
Read at www.sandiegouniontribune.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]