"Juvenile Lifer" May Soon Be Eligible For Parole

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 59-year old man who was sentenced to life in prison in the mid 1970's, after murdering a woman in Southwest Philadelphia when he was 17, may soon be eligible for parole. It's because of a US Supreme Court ruling banning automatic life-without-parole sentences for juveniles.

A few days before New Year's Eve in 1974, Joseph Baynes wanted money for new shoes and festivities, and with another teenager, walked up to a 64-year old woman waiting for a trolley at 60th Street and Chester Avenue, saying "this is a stickup, give us all you got." She resisted when he grabbed her purse and she was shot twice.

Now he stood before a judge, saying "your honor, it hurts me that I didn't get to apologize to her family. It was terrible, and I regret it every day."

His brother, Michael Anderson, who spent ten-years in prison with Baynes, hopes he'll get paroled in a couple of months.

"I think that all juvenile lifers should be given a chance to get out at some point," he said. "You're just warehousing them."

Assistant DA Laurie Moore said he has a good record to support.

"The defendant has accepted responsibility and he had a good department of corrections record."

They have sifted 300 juvenile life sentence cases.

"So far, we have re sentenced 28 of these juveniles."

Helen Levin of the Defender Association of Philadelphia said Pennsylvania has more juvenile lifers than any other state, most of whom come from the city.