Advocates are urging the Pa. Supreme Court to declare life sentences for unintentional deaths unconstitutional

Derek Lee is one of more than 1,100 people serving ‘death by incarceration’ for murders they did not commit

Sentencing people to die behind bars for murders they did not commit or plan is unconstitutionally cruel, the attorney for a former Allegheny County man sentenced to life without parole argued Tuesday.

Bret Grote, legal director of the Abolitionist Law Center, argued that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court should strike down the mandatory sentencing system for second-degree murder — when a person is convicted for their role in a crime that results in a death they did not intend.

The Supreme Court in February agreed to hear the appeal of former Allegheny County resident Derek Lee, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a 2014 murder committed by his accomplice in a robbery.

Grote said Lee’s sentence is disproportionately harsh given the lack of intent to kill inherent in the crime, and argued it does little to deter others. He urged the court to find that the sentence violates both the Pennsylvania and U.S. Constitutions.

“When Mr. Lee turns 76 years old, he will have spent 50 years in prison. Even then, he will not be able to appear before the parole board even though the Department of Corrections has long since deemed him fully rehabilitated,” Grote told the judges.

“He must die in prison because of the unintended consequences of criminal behavior and a murder committed by someone else. This should no longer be allowed under the Pennsylvania Constitution,” Grote said.

Lee, 36, was convicted on Oct. 14, 2014, of manslaughter, robbery and conspiracy in the shooting death of Leonard Butler in Pittsburgh. Lee and another man entered the home Butler shared with his longtime girlfriend and forced them into the basement at gunpoint.

After Butler gave Lee his watch, Lee left the basement and the other man stayed behind. Butler’s long-term partner Tina Chapple testified that Butler lunged at the man and she heard a shot. Butler was struck and died from his injuries, court documents show.

Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Kevin McCarthy noted that the murder rule has been Pennsylvania law since 1794 and that the penalty has been revised from the death penalty to the possibility of life in prison and most recently to life without parole in 1974 .

“And this Court has repeatedly held that this was an appropriate exercise by the legislature to punish someone responsible, who gentlemen rthat deals with the underlying violent crime,” McCarthy said.

Judge Christine Donohue said this was the question before the court – whether it is cruel to punish someone for murder when the state has not established some degree of intent or recklessness that caused the death.

McCarthy said the state Legislature saw fit to severely punish those who commit violent crimes when their decisions lead to death, even if that person was not directly responsible.

“Every member who participates is equally responsible and can be punished equally,” McCarthy said.

During arguments, the Supreme Court justices grappled with the potential impact of a ruling that life without parole is unconstitutional and whether it should apply retroactively

More than 1,100 people are serving such sentences in Pennsylvania, and if they find them unconstitutional, the state court could be forced to reconsider each person’s case.

“If these kinds of unavoidable and large-scale consequences are necessary, then it is necessary to enforce constitutional rights,” Grote told the court, noting that she faced a similar situation when she ruled that a mandatory life without parole for juvenile offenders was unconstitutional.

“Pennsylvania recently achieved resounding, unequivocal success in convicting more than 500 former juvenile lifers,” Grote said.

But Grote said another solution would be to make them eligible for parole. Because parole eligibility in Pennsylvania is determined by completing a minimum sentence, there is no way for someone serving a life sentence to be eligible for parole, he noted.

Chief Justice Debra Todd said this would require rewriting the parole law.

“I don’t see any options for us to rewrite anything the legislature has written. We don’t do that,” Todd said.

Grote said the court could declare the mandatory sentencing system unconstitutional and then give lawmakers time to rewrite the law. Alternatively, he said, the court could use its power to create rules to enforce the Constitution, and suggested that eligibility for parole after a minimum sentence of 25 years would be a starting point.