A state appeals court Wednesday upheld a life sentence for a man who was 15-years-old when he was charged in the 1983 killing of a Bay County food-store cashier.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected a series of arguments raised by attorneys for Roosevelt Kirk, now 54. Kirk was sentenced to life in prison in 1984 in the murder of a cashier during a robbery of Junior Food Store.
After a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling about life sentences for juveniles and a subsequent Florida Supreme Court ruling, Kirk received a resentencing hearing.
A Bay County circuit judge resentenced Kirk to life in prison, with the possibility of parole and judicial review after 25 years, according to Wednesday’s decision, written by Judge Stephanie Ray and joined by Judges Clay Roberts and Scott Makar.
Kirk is an inmate at Jefferson Correctional Institution, information on the Florida Department of Corrections website shows.
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