Stephenson v. State

Appellant, defendant below, Alden Stephenson, appeals both an order from the trial court sentencing Stephenson to an aggregate sentence of ninety years and a subsequent order denying his rule 3.800 motion for resentencing. Because Stephenson’s ninety-year aggregate sentence does not provide Stephenson — a minor when he committed non-homicide crimes— with a meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation, we reverse..

I. Facts

When Stephenson was fourteen years old, he was charged with armed robbery, aggravated battery, and burglary with a battery…