Pa. court OKs life term in 2016 police chase crash that killed three
PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that a man convicted of third-degree murder in a Thanksgiving Day 2016 crash that killed three people following a police chase can be sentenced to a mandatory life prison term.that the state’s highest court cited what it called the “clear and unambiguous language” of the statute in siding with an appeals court that ordered a new sentencing hearing for 28-year-old Demetrius Coleman of Homewood, who is serving a 70- to 140-year term.
Prosecutors sought a mandatory life term even though state law sets a mandatory 20- to 40-year term for third-degree murder, citing another statue allowing such a penalty for anyone “who has previously been convicted at any time of murder or voluntary manslaughter.” Coleman’s attorney argued before the state’s highest court that the word “previously” was intended to target repeat offenders. The district attorney’s office pointed to the full language of the statute that stated “previously convicted at any time.”
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