Appeals Court Rules That 254-Year Sentence For SoCal Rapist Was Unconstitutional
LONG BEACH (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected the virtual life sentence for a Southern California serial rapist.
The court in San Francisco ruled Wednesday that Roosevelt Moore shouldn't have been given a collective sentence of 254 years because he was only 16 at the time of the crimes.
Moore was convicted of rape, kidnapping, robbery and other crimes for attacking four women in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach in 1991.
A panel of the Ninth District Court of Appeals said federal law prohibits giving juveniles life sentences without chance of parole in non-murder cases. It concluded his sentence was unconstitutional.
The case will be returned to a lower federal court for re-sentencing.
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