The Iowa Supreme Court has ordered a resentencing for a man convicted of murder when he was still a teenager. Eric Querrey was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1992 at the age of 15 and was sentence to life in prison without parole.
Querrey requested a resentencing in 2012 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled life sentences for those who committed their crimes as juveniles were not legal. Querrey was resentenced in district court to life with the possibility of parole until after he served 35 years.
The Iowa Supreme Court says based on its ruling in a similar case, the district court does not have the authority to put a limit on the number of years someone has to serve before being eligible for parole. The Supreme Court ordered the case sent back to district court for resentencing to life with the chance for parole.