Commonwealth v. Foust

OPINION BY OLSON, J.:

*420 I. Introduction

Appellant, Michael Paul Foust, appeals from the judgment of sentence entered on July 5, 2016, as made final by the denial of his post-sentence motion on July 19, 2016. In this case of first impression in Pennsylvania, we consider whether a term-of-years sentence which exceeds a juvenile homicide defendant's life expectancy constitutes an unlawful de facto sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole ("LWOP"). As an initial matter, we hold that because the Supreme Court of the United States has severely limited the circumstances under…