(AP) _ The Arkansas Supreme Court says it won’t order a new sentencing hearing for a man who was 15 when he killed a police officer during a discount store burglary in 1977.John Lohbauer says a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that prohibited mandatory life sentences for juveniles entitles him to another sentencing hearing. The state Supreme Court said Thursday that the Arkansas Legislature’s decision to make juvenile offenders like Lohbauer eligible for parole after 25 years is sufficient.
Lohbauer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Texarkana police Lt. Ed Worrell and was sentenced to life plus 40 years. He is now 56.
Gov. Mike Huckabee rejected a Lohbauer clemency request in 2005 after the state parole board recommended against it.
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