Heinous youth

On April 28, 1993, Kristopher Kirchner, then 16 years of age, and another underage accomplice, stole numerous weapons from a Vista gun store. Kirchner severely beat the store owner with a metal pipe. After being in a 40-day coma, he died. Kirchner was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On February 23 of this year, the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District of California, ruled that Kirchner, who has been in prison 22 years, has a right to appeal the sentence issued when he was a juvenile. The appeals court cited several precedents that arose after Kirchner was sentenced. Two cases concluded that in state proceedings, the Eighth Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment, permits those committing crimes as juveniles and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, to be able to seek parole retroactively except in rare circumstances after serving 15 years inn prison.

In the Kirchner case, the appeals court concluded that he has a right to petition for resentencing under the law, stating, "A defendant who has committed a heinous crime but, in the aftermath, has matured and exhibited remorse and rehabilitation will be given not just the benefit of worthy conduct, but also judicial recognition of his or her inherent ability to reform." That does not mean, however, that Kirchner will go free.

Separately, a California law passed in 2012 permits offenders who committed heinous crimes under the age of 18, after serving 15 years in prison, to petition for resentencing except in unusual circumstances.