Legal Question: Back-to-Back Life Sentences
This question comes from Jackie B. via my Instagram DMs.
“Hi Heather! I was watching Forensic Files, and I thought of a random question. What’s the difference between one life sentence versus two or three? If you’re already serving a life sentence, does it make a big difference if you serve more than one? I know you are super busy, but I am fascinated by this stuff and want to learn more.”
Excellent question, Jackie. First of all, the Forensic Files is a sweet show. One of my vacation go-to shows. Pop that on, order some room service, never leave the bed. Perfect vacation.
I don’t have any details on the underlying crimes in this case, but there are a few reasons why a defendant would be sentenced to multiple or “back-to-back” life sentences. In the transactional law world, we would refer to something like back-to-back life sentencing as “belt and suspenders.” You use both so if one fails, your ass doesn’t show.
Back-to-back life sentences are belt and suspenders for people who commit multiple murders or other heinous crimes like terrorism. If someone is sentenced to a single term of life in prison with the possibility of parole, the person may be eligible to be released from prison after just 25 years.
On the other hand, if they are sentenced to multiple, consecutive life sentences, that won’t happen. That way, when they are paroled for their initial life sentence after 25 years, they won’t be automatically released. Instead, they would begin serving their next life sentence. Then, after serving 25 years of that second life sentence, only then would they be eligible for parole, having served a combined total of 50 years.
Additionally, convictions and sentences are not final until they’re final. By “final,” I mean appealed to the highest possible court and affirmed at all levels. At sentencing, it is impossible to know whether a conviction will be successfully appealed or if it will be affirmed. So back-to-back life sentences prevent possible early release based on a conviction/sentence being thrown out by a higher court.
Let’s say someone is convicted of crimes A, B, and C, and they are sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences, one for each crime. At first glance, that may seem duplicative. But imagine things played out like this:
Crime A: Defendant serves this sentence and becomes eligible for parole after 25 years.
Crime B: Defendant successfully appeals this conviction, has the conviction overturned, and has the sentence vacated.
Crime C: Defendant still has to serve a life sentence for this crime.
If not for the life sentence on Crime C, then the defendant could, in theory, be released after just 25 years. On the other hand, this is also why a defense attorney would ask for the sentences to be served concurrently, or at the same time, rather than consecutively, meaning one after the other.
Frequently in cases like this, we also see defendants sentenced for lesser offenses on top of the life sentence. For instance, you may hear someone received back-to-back life sentences, plus 20 years for a charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon. That is more of a belt, suspenders, and zip-tie kind of approach where a judge wants to be really sure that the offender serves a meaningful amount of time.
But why not just sentence them to life without parole? For some crimes and in some jurisdictions, this is not an available sentence. Remember, criminal law is jurisdiction specific. So, depending on what state a crime is committed in, and whether the crime is a violation of state or federal law, the sentencing rules and guidelines vary.
Side note: I have a lot to say about convictions, sentencing, and criminal justice reform, but those are all outside the scope of Jackie’s excellent question. If you want more, listen to literally any crime-related episode of Sinisterhood where we almost always discuss criminal justice reform. Try this one, this one, or this one. We also recently discussed the controversial topic of acquitted conduct sentencing in Episode 121, which you can listen to here.
I hope that answers the question. Thanks, Jackie!
Got a question? Submit it here. They can be legal what-if questions like the one above, or questions about the legality of actions in TV shows or movies you’ve seen. I never ever want to answer your personal legal questions, so don't send those. Love you, but I don’t do that.
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