A Baltimore County judge has upheld the life-without-parole sentence given to a man convicted in the 2000 murder of a Hunt Valley Burger King manager.
Andre Lawson, convicted in the death of James Stambaugh Jr., 21, had challenged the life term in light of recent Supreme Court decisions on juveniles sentenced to life. Lawson, now 32, was 17 at the time of the murder.
The Supreme Court has held that life without parole should be prohibited for "all but the rarest of juvenile offenders, those whose crimes reflect permanent incorrigibility."
But in an order issued Thursday, Circuit Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. said Lawson's sentence was "fair, just, and constitutional."
Cahill said the sentencing judge, Alexander Wright, had considered the factors outlined by the Supreme Court — including a juvenile's immaturity, family and home environment, and extent of participation in the crime.
"When sentencing the Defendant to life without parole, Judge Wright considered each and every factor that the U.S. Supreme Court now requires judges to consider before sentencing a juvenile to life without parole," Cahill wrote in the order.
Baltimore County prosecutor Adam Lippe said in an email to The Baltimore Sun that in Cahill's order, "the Court reached the logical conclusion based on the law and not quaint notions that murderers deserve second chances."
James Johnston, an attorney for Lawson and director of the Youth Re-Sentencing Project in the state public defender's office, said Lawson's defense lawyers "respectfully disagree" with the ruling and plan to appeal. Johnston's office is challenging juvenile life sentences around Maryland.
Lawson was one of four people convicted in the 2000 killing, which happened two days before Christmas. Prosecutors alleged that during a robbery of the Burger King, Lawson bound Stambaugh's hands and face with duct tape, stabbed him in the shoulder and beat him with heavy metal objects.
Stambaugh's father is being represented by the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center. The center's executive director, Russell Butler, said Cahill's ruling showed that the sentencing judge "considered all the factors that the Supreme Court is talking about" in its recent decisions.
Earlier this week, Maryland second-highest court ordered new sentencing hearings for three men convicted of murders they committed as juveniles. The Court of Special Appeals opinions were unreported, meaning they don't set precedent for other cases.
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