State v. Oliveira

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the superior court denying Defendant’s motion to reduce a sentence, holding that the trial justice was within his discretion to give and confirm the punishment for Defendant.Defendant was convicted of one count of first-degree child molestation sexual assault. Defendant was originally sentenced to a forty-year term to serve but, after the case was remanded, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Defendant filed a motion to reduce the sentence, arguing that the life sentence imposed after the second trial was unconstitutional. The trial justice denied the motion. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial justice abused his discretion by imposing a sentence significantly longer than the sentence imposed after his first conviction. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial justice properly decided to impose the maximum sentence permitted under the statute in this case and that Defendant failed to demonstrate that the sentence was grossly disparate from other sentences generally imposed for similar offenses. View "State v. Oliveira" on Justia Law