Terrell v. Ohio

Deshawn Terrell was sentenced to 21 years to life, including a mandatory 15 years to life sentence under a theory of felony murder. Although, Mr. Terrell was only 17 at the time of the crime and video evidence showed that he ran away before his co-defendant shot the victim, the sentencing court failed to give any weight to Mr. Terrell’s youth or diminished culpability as required by Graham v. Florida and Miller v. Alabama. Juvenile Law Center, joined by Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth and Center for Law, Brain and Behavior, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Mr. Terrell’s petition for certiorari. Our brief urged the court to grant review to address the constitutionality of Ohio's felony murder statute as applied to juveniles because it prescribes a mandatory 15 years to life sentence without consideration of youth.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined review.