Evan Miller was just 17 years old when he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Cole C. Cannon.
Miller was just shy of 15 years old when he and another teenager stole baseball cards and $350 from Cannon before beating him to death with a baseball bat and setting his mobile home on fire.
Miller, cuffed and shackled, was led into a Lawrence County courtroom, Monday morning. The appellate courts have ruled that it is unconstitutional to sentence a teenager to life behind bars without the possibility of parole. In 2012, the U.S.Supreme Court decided Miller should get a new sentencing hearing.
Judge Mark Craig is presiding over the hearing in what is amounting to a bench trial.
Miller’s attorneys are hoping Craig follows the Supreme Courts decision.
Prosecutors are now in a position to have to show that Miller is one of those “…rare juvenile offenders who exhibits such irretrievable depravity that rehabilitation is impossible.”
