State v. Vaccaro

In this criminal appeal we are asked to determine whether state and federal constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment are violated by the imposition of a mandatory life sentence. We are also requested to decide whether the “right of allocution” contained in art. I., §10, of our state constitution grants to the Superior Court the power to mitigate a punishment previously established by the Legislature.

The record reveals that defendant was tried and convicted in Superior Court of first-degree murder and sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment. Under the terms…