Opinion ID: 2625939
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Should Defendants Convicted of Murders Committed Before the Natural Life Sentence Became Available Have Their Sentences Reduced to Life if the Court Reduces Their Sentences?

Text: ¶ 43 In 1993, the Arizona Legislature amended A.R.S. section 13-703 to add a natural life sentencing option for defendants convicted of first degree murder. 1993 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 153, § 1. The parties stipulate, and we agree, that the sentence of life without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years, rather than natural life, must apply to those defendants sentenced under the pre-1993 statute. See, e.g., State v. Barreras, 181 Ariz. 516, 523-24 n. 7, 892 P.2d 852, 859-60 n. 7 (1995) (The amended statute [permitting natural life sentence] is inapplicable here, however, because this case arose before its effective date.). If subsequent proceedings result in life sentences, these defendants cannot receive a natural life sentence; only a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years can apply.