Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Hearing that someone is sentenced to a “life sentence” is fairly common, especially with regard to the legal headlines where the most heinous crimes (with the harshest sentences) tend to dominate. However, what exactly constitutes a life sentence is not a subject that comes up with much frequency. A recent case that came before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals helps to explain the exact meaning of the term.

In the case of State v. Martinez, the defendant was accused of aggravated rape and fled to Mexico to avoid the charges. He was apprehended in Mexico and signed an extradition agreement that allowed him to be sent back to the United States for trial which contained a provision that stipulated that the trial court could not seek a sentence of life imprisonment in the defendant’s case. The defendant pleaded guilty upon returning to the United States and was sentenced to eighty-eight years in prison. Since the defendant was not born in the Old Testament and is most likely not a vampire, this is effectively a life sentence. Not surprisingly, the defendant argued that the trial court had imposed a life sentence on him in violation of the extradition agreement. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals did not agree with the defendant and upheld his sentence.

In this case, the Court of Criminal Appeals distinguished between a “life sentence” and a “sentence that exceeds the defendant’s life expectancy.” Even though the sentence in this case was eighty-eight years, it did not qualify as the former and merely fell into the latter category. Thus, the defendant basically pleaded guilty to the exact sentence that he was trying to avoid. The lesson learned, that a “life sentence” does not include sentences that extend beyond the amount of time a defendant expects to live but only includes a literal sentence of life in prison, was a costly one in this case. One way to avoid a mistake like the one that was made in this case is to rely on experienced defense counsel to guide you through the trial process.

Source: (State v. Martinez, 35 TAM 10-17, 1/11/10, Nashville, McLin, 17 pages.)