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Iowa high court rules on challenges of juvenile life sentences
March 1, 2010
Iowa: The Iowa Supreme Court has issued a ruling that overturns the decisions of both the Iowa Court of Appeals and the Black Hawk County District Court on the case of the appeals of Ruthann Veal. Veal has appealed her sentence, life without parole, for her conviction of first-degree murder on the grounds that it was cruel and unusual punishment under both the state and federal constitutions. Veal was convicted in 1993 when she was only 14 years old, but her appeals were denied by the district and appeals courts saying that appeals to criminal convictions must be made within three years of the conviction. The state supreme court, however, had ruled that challenges to an illegal sentence are not subject to time limits for normal conviction appeals, and has sent the case back to the Black Hawk District Court.[1]
Footnotes
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of Iowa, Southern District of Iowa • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of Iowa, Southern District of Iowa
State courts:
Iowa Supreme Court • Iowa Court of Appeals • Iowa district courts
State resources:
Courts in Iowa • Iowa judicial elections • Judicial selection in Iowa
