Associated Press
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — A Washington man who received the death penalty as a juvenile has been re-sentenced to 48 years in prison following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that brought his case back to court.
Michael Furman was sentenced to death in 1990 for raping and killing 85-year-old Ann Presler in her Port Orchard home.
After the Washington state Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juveniles in 1993, Furman received a life sentence. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court found that juveniles convicted of aggravated murder cannot be automatically sentenced to life in prison, allowing Furman and 30 other inmates in the state to be resentenced.
The Kitsap Sun reports the victim’s relatives were present at Furman’s hearing in Kitsap County Superior Court on Friday.
Furman’s attorney, Steve Lewis, had argued that the 60-year sentence sought by prosecutors was unconstitutional and Furman should be eligible to apply for release now.