High Court Tosses Teen's Life Sentence For Murder
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TALLAHASSSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — A life sentence given to a Florida woman who was a teen when she was convicted of beating a 16-year old rival to death has been tossed out by Florida's Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the high court justices unanimously ruled that it was unconstitutional to keep Laisha Landrum in prison with no chance at parole because she was 16 when she committed the crime in 2004.
The court ordered resentencing of the Tampa woman.
Prosecutors say Landrum and a teenage boy fatally beat Emily Clemons with a hammer, kitchen pots and a boom box, hitting her at least 34 times and using the hammer's claw on her face. She was convicted of second-degree murder.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 threw out mandatory life in prison without parole for juveniles. The ruling ordered states to consider a juvenile's age when they hand down sentences.
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