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You see this headline, and you think some prosecutors put the beating to some guy.
But if you read the story, it was a huge loss. The State charged the guy with Capital Murder but waived the death penalty. That meant if the jury found him guilty, they would not even have had to deliberate on punishment because the Defendant would receive an "automatic" life sentence. That means he would have to wait 40 real years before he is eligible for parole.
Instead, after just 45 minutes, the jury found him guilty of the lesser offense of just "regular" murder instead of "capital murder". By doing so, there was no automatic sentence but instead the jury had to pick a number between 5 to 99 years or life in prison. They chose 20. He'll be eligible for parole after 10.
The defendant may not feel lucky, but that's a huge victory. (And kudos to courthouse reporter Melody McDonald who always seems to get the story right.)
