Court hears dispute over whether Booker allowed resentencing or only parole eligibility for juvenile offender

Summary

The Court of Criminal Appeals heard arguments over whether Booker v. Tennessee permits a trial court to reopen post-conviction proceedings and reduce a juvenile offender's life-without-parole sentence, or whether Booker only requires an opportunity for parole eligibility; the panel took the case under advisement.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals heard oral arguments on whether the post-conviction court erred in reopening Donovan Daniel’s post-conviction proceedings and resentencing him after the Tennessee Supreme Court’s 2022 Booker decision.

Kirby May, counsel for the State of Tennessee, told the court the post-conviction court lacked authority to resentence Daniel because Booker created only a narrow remedy and did not authorize resentencing for defendants who had individualized sentencing hearings. "This court should reverse the post-conviction court," May said, arguing that Daniel already had an opportunity to present youth-related mitigation at a bifurcated sentencing hearing.

Linda Meador, attorney for Daniel, said the post-conviction court correctly applied Booker and that the remedy here is proper because the original sentencing did not meaningfully consider youth and attendant circumstances and because defense counsel was denied a…

Court hears dispute over whether Booker allowed resentencing or only parole eligibility for juvenile offender

Summary

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