Court rulings leave uncertainty about life-without-parole sentences for juvenile killers

Life without the possibility of parole was a prison sentence that offered some closure for Mike Kaliszeski, the brother of a Palm Bay murder victim.

His sister, Patricia, was stabbed and nearly decapitated by Alan Tanguay, who was 16 at the time. Kaliszeski was relieved that his sister's killer would never know freedom.

But recent court rulings have cast some doubt on sentences given to teens who kill. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court found that mandatory life-without-parole sentences were unconstitutional for juveniles.The ruling raised the possibility that sentences given to juvenile killers might be reviewed. But then, state appellate courts in Miami and Tallahassee found that the Supreme Court decision didn't apply to older cases. Those state rulings are now being challenged and are likely to wind up in the Florida Supreme Court.

"You've already been through a difficult trial," Kaliszeski said. "You thought there was closure. Now, you face the realization years later that the murderer may have a chance for parole."

Tanguay is among 200 Florida inmates serving life sentences for murders committed as juveniles. Among them is Rod Ferrell, notorious ringleader of the "vampire cult" that killed a Eustis couple.

The nation's highest court determined that juveniles, who are immature and can't always understand consequences, cannot automatically receive the harshest prison sentences but that judges should have leeway in sentencing juvenile killers.

The Supreme Court recognizes that juveniles should be treated differently in the court system, said Paolo Annino, a professor at the Florida State University College of Law who tracks such juvenile cases.

"No one is denying that children commit terrible acts, but that person is still not an adult," he said. "Mandating judges to pretend that children are adults and force life without parole without considering the child's age violates that basic principle."

The ruling has already been applied to newer cases. Ryan Ray, a Leesburg teenager convicted of killing a 39-year-old Kentucky man, was recently sentenced to life without parole. Although the Supreme Court ruling doesn't ban a life sentence in such cases, the judge was required to weigh whether that was an appropriate sentence.

If courts ultimately decide that older life-without-parole sentences can be reviewed, about 45 people from Central Florida could qualify, records show. The group includes Mark Berrios, convicted of killing a Daytona Beach Boardwalk pedophile; and Jeff Farina, convicted of the execution-style killing of a Daytona Beach Taco Bell employee.

Ferrell, ringleader of the "vampire cult" killings, is among a few inmates who asked for a new sentencing hearing because of the Supreme Court opinion. A judge denied that request.

If he were resentenced, Ferrell could still end up with life, said 5th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Brad King, who prosecuted Ferrell.

"A judge would have to weigh the circumstances," King said. But he noted that a jury and judge already considered Ferrell's case and found that he deserved death — a sentence later reduced to life in prison when the Supreme Court found that capital punishment for juveniles was unconstitutional.