Arthur Franklin is serving 1,000-year prison sentences for raping three women in 1983 when he was a teenager.
(Florida Department of Corrections)
Florida’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld simultaneous 1,000-year prison sentences for a man convicted of violently assaulting and raping three women in the early 1980s when he was a juvenile.
Arthur O’Derrell Franklin has served more than 30 years for raping three women in 1983 when he was 17, the News Service of Florida reported.
FLORIDA MAN SUSPECTED OF MULTIPLE RAPES ARRESTED IN 1983 CASE AFTER DNA LINKED HIM TO CRIME
Franklin's hearing evoked “Graham v. Florida,” a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that mandated juveniles cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole if they have committed nonhomicidal offenses. The ruling also said that such juveniles must be afforded “meaningful” opportunities to obtain release if they’ve demonstrated “maturity and rehabilitation,” before the end of their sentence, the report said.
Franklin’s attorneys argued that their client should be retried because he was a juvenile when he committed his crimes. But the Florida Supreme Court’s majority opinion argued the “Graham” case did not apply to Franklin because he is "eligible" for parole.
The dissenting justices argued that Franklin’s case should be reconsidered to determine whether the parole process provides Franklin “a meaningful opportunity for release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.”
MARYLAND OFFICER ACCUSED OF RAPING WOMAN DURING TRAFFIC STOP
Per Franklin’s prison sentence, he will eligible for parole in the year 3252 – just in time for his 387th birthday. Franklin's sentence was previously upheld in 2014, the New York Daily News reported.
Source: Read Full Article