LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The murder sentence of an Arkansas man who was given life in prison without parole as a minor has been reduced to 40 years.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen signed an agreement Monday reducing Brandon Hardman’s sentence to 40 years with credit for 18.5 years served.
Arkansas has been resentencing people who were given life without parole as minors after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that such mandatory sentences for youth offenders are unconstitutional.
Hardman was sentenced on a capital murder charge in 2002 for what prosecutors say was a “gang hit” two years earlier in Little Rock when he was 16. Hardman alleged at the time he acted in self-defense when shooting 17-year-old Antwan Jones, a member of a rival gang.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
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