(1) The general assembly finds that:
(a) (I) In the 2012 case of Miller v. Alabama, the United States supreme court held that imposing a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole on a juvenile is a cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the eighth amendment to the United States constitution; and
(II) The court further held that children are constitutionally different than adults for purposes of sentencing; and
(b) (I) In the 2016 case of Montgomery v. Louisiana, the court held that Miller v. Alabama announced a substantive rule of constitutional law that applies retroactively; and
(II) In light of the court's holding that children are constitutionally different than adults in their level of culpability, the court further held that prisoners serving life sentences for crimes that they committed as juveniles must be given the opportunity to show that their crimes did not reflect irreparable corruption, and, if they did not, then their hope for some years of life outside prison walls must be restored; and
(III) The court made it clear that a sentence to a lifetime in prison is an unconstitutional sentence for all but the rarest of children.
(2) The general assembly further finds that:
(a) A juvenile sentenced in Colorado for a conviction of a class 1 felony as a result of a direct file or transfer of an offense committed on or after July 1, 1990, and before July 1, 2006, was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole; and
(b) Approximately fifty persons in Colorado received such an unconstitutional sentence.
(3) Now, therefore, the general assembly hereby declares that this part 10 is necessary to provide persons serving such unconstitutional sentences the opportunity for resentencing.
Source: L. 2016: Entire part added, (SB 16-181), ch. 353, p. 1450, � 5, effective June 10.
16-13-1002. Resentencing hearing for persons serving life sentences without the possibility of parole as the result of a direct file or transfer. (1) A person may petition the sentencing court for a resentencing hearing if the person was:
(a) A juvenile at the time of his or her offense;
(b) Convicted as an adult of a class 1 felony following direct filing of an information or indictment in the district court pursuant to section 19-2.5-801 or transfer of proceedings to the district court pursuant to section 19-2.5-802 or pursuant to either of these sections as they existed prior to their repeal and reenactment, with amendments, by House Bill 96-1005; and
(c) Sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for an offense committed on or after July 1, 1990, and before July 1, 2006.
(2) If a petition is filed pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the sentencing court shall conduct a resentencing hearing and resentence the offender as described in section 18-1.3-401 (4)(c), C.R.S.
(3) The provisions of sections 17-22.5-403 (2)(c) and 17-22.5-405 (1.2), C.R.S., take effect upon resentencing.
(4) A petition filed under this section is not a motion under rule 35 (c) of the Colorado rules of criminal procedure.
Source: L. 2016: Entire part added, (SB 16-181), ch. 353, p. 1451, � 5, effective June 10. L. 2021: IP(1) and (1)(b) amended, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 714, � 27, effective October 1.
UNIFORM MANDATORY DISPOSITION OF DETAINERS ACT