Federal Lawyer Michael Leonard discusses sentencing in the “Sweetie Pie’s” case of Tim Norman on St. Louis television news. The link is below. This was an unfortunate sentencing situation where the Judge, Federal District Court Judge John Ross, had no discretion in sentencing Mr. Norman. That lack of discretion was based upon the federal “murder for hire” statute, which calls for a mandatory life sentence where death results. Accordingly, although Mr. Leonard presented the District Court with extensive argument, in writing and verbally, in mitigation under section 3553, the Court could not impose a sentence of anything other than life in prison for Mr. Norman. This was a particularly unfair result in light of the fact that the admitted shooter, one of Mr. Norman’s co-Defendants, received a sentence of less than thirty years pursuant to a cooperation agreement with the Government. However, Mr. Norman has strong bases for his Appeal, which will be pursued before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Here is the link:
Written by Michael Leonard
Leonard Trial Lawyers
March 6, 2023