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State v. Green7/30/1998
the General Assembly also reduced the age at which a juvenile could be tried as an adult, from fourteen to thirteen years of age. While the effective dates of the two enactments were different, it is at least doubtful that the legislature considered, or was aware, that it was creating a five-month period during which thirteen-year-old juveniles would be subject to a mandatory life sentence for offenses other than murder.
The majority correctly points out that this Court has held that a mandatory life sentence for first-degree sexual offense does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment. Suffice it to say that none of those cases involved a thirteen-year-old juvenile tried as an adult. The majority notes that whether a specific punishment is cruel and unusual is evaluated in the context of society's "evolving standards of decency." Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101, 2 L. Ed. 2d 630, 642 (1958). Assuming that this is also the proper standard under the North Carolina Constitution, the General Assembly's repeal of mandatory life imprisonment for first-degree sexual offense must be considered "reliable[,] objective evidence of contemporary values." Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 331, 106 L. Ed. 2d 256, 286 (1989). By eliminating the mandatory life sentence for all defendants convicted of this crime, the legislature cannot realistically be deemed to have specifically intended that thirteen-year-old juveniles be suddenly subject to mandatory life terms during the five-month period of 1 May to 1 October 1994.
Defendant, Andre Demetrius Green, a thirteen-year-old, borderline mentally retarded juvenile, was charged with the crime of first-degree sexual offense in August 1994 and was transferred to superior court for trial as an adult. Upon the jury verdict of guilty of first-degree sexual offense, the trial Judge had no discretion but to sentence defendant to the mandatory term of life imprisonment. The Judge could not consider or weigh any mitigating factors in determining whether a sentence less than life imprisonment was the appropriate penalty. Nor could the Judge, in determining a proper sentence, consider defendant's age or prior record level as he could have if the Structured Sentencing Act had been in effect. Defendant's mandatory life sentence was both excessive and unique in its severity. His punishment was, and is, an anomaly in contemporary North Carolina case law, inconsistent with this State's own evolving standards of decency as evidenced by the replacement of mandatory sentencing with the Structured Sentencing Act.
While this Court has often used the same analysis for the state and federal constitutions in terms of whether the prescribed punishment is cruel and unusual, the North Carolina Constitution since 1868 has prohibited punishments that are cruel or unusual. Clearly, defendant's punishment, under the state of the law as it existed at the time of his commission of the offense, was unusual within the meaning of Article I, Section 27 of the North Carolina Constitution. Therefore, as to the portion of the majority opinion which holds otherwise, I respectfully dissent.
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