Monegan v. State

SULLIVAN, Justice.

Defendant James Monegan was convicted of murder. We affirm that conviction, finding no reversible error in either the trial court’s or defense counsel’s performance. But we vacate Monegan’s sentence of life without parole and remand for re-sentencing to a term of years. This is because the sole “aggravating circumstance” that supported the sentence — that Monegan committed another murder— cannot be constitutionally applied where, as here, the defendant has not been convicted of the other murder.

This Court has jurisdiction over this direct appeal because the sentence exceeds…