State v. Velazquez

HINES, Justice.

This Court granted certiorari to the Court of Appeals in Velazquez v. State, 283 Ga. App. 863 (643 SE2d 291) (2007), to examine the determination by the Court of Appeals that Rodolfo Lopez Velazquez was incorrectly sentenced to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Finding that the Court of Appeals correctly held that such a sentence was not available in Velazquez’s case, we affirm.

Velazquez pled guilty to the 2005 rape and aggravated sodomy of his seven-year-old stepdaughter. The victim’s injuries were severe and required surgery. The trial court…