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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
Roper v. Simmons
Citation:
543 U.S. 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1.Facts
At the age of 17, the defendant, still a junior in high school, committed murder. He and his friend entered the home of Shirley Crook. They used duct tape to cover her eyes, mouth, and hands, and then drove her to a state park. They tied her hands and feet together, wrapped her face in duct tape, and proceeded to throw her from a bridge, drowning her in the waters below.
About nine months later, after he had turned 18, he was tried and sentenced to death. He appealed, arguing that it violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States to execute him since he was a juvenile when he committed the crimes. The Missouri Supreme Court agreed and reversed the death sentence.
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