Court Opinion

ID: 9670741
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:24:52.477045+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:06.228852
License: Public Domain

*1058ON REHEARING
PER CURIAM
The defendants were convicted of aggravated rape, La.R.S. 14:42. Defendant Donald Jones was found guilty without capital punishment and was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. However, defendant Ronald Jones was found guilty without any recommendation of mercy by the jury. Accordingly, he was given the death sentence.
■ We affirmed the convictions (see the original opinion) but granted a rehearing with respect to appellant Ronald Jones to determine the validity of the death sentence imposed. •
After this appeal was taken, the United States Supreme Court decided Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972), which holds that the imposition of the death penalty under statutes similar to Louisiana’s constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Accordingly, -we' remand this case to the 24th Judicial District Court with instructions to the judge to sentence the defendant, Ronald Jones, to life imprisonment. State v. Franklin, 263 La. 344, 268 So.2d 249.
Case remanded.