Those factors would have allowed the judge to impose less than the life sentence called for under Louisiana’s habitual offender statutes, his lawyers at Monday’s hearing said. Lower courts held that state law and Supreme Court precedent preclude Harris from pursuing a subsequent post-conviction appeal of his sentence. Johnson said the court record indicated the sentencing judge at the habitual offender hearing gave no indication he was aware of factors that might have called for a more lenient sentence. Life sentence,’” Johnson said. Court records show Harris had previous convictions for drugs, simple robbery, burglary and theft in the 1990s.

Source: thestar January 27, 2020 23:22 UTC