In re Bonilla

INTRODUCTION

These cases concern a recurring issue in juvenile sentencing. A juvenile is charged with committing one or more serious or violent felonies, with various sentence enhancement allegations. The juvenile is tried as an adult, convicted, and sentenced to a lengthy term that, while authorized by statute, is the functional equivalent of a life sentence because the defendant has no meaningful chance of being released on parole in his or her lifetime. The United States Supreme Court has held that a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, when imposed upon a defendant who was under the age of 18 at the time of his or her crime, violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. (Miller v. Alabama (2012) ___ U.S. ___, [132 S.Ct. 2455] (Miller) [prohibiting mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for defendant who committed capital murder at age 14]; Graham v. Florida (2010) 560 U.S. 48, [130 S.Ct. 2011] (Graham) [prohibiting life without parole sentence for juvenile who did not commit homicide].) In People v. Caballero (2012) 55 Cal.4th 262 (Caballero), the California Supreme Court, citing…