A judge wants the state Supreme Court to weigh in on constitutional questions surrounding the resentencing of a man who is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole for killing two Dartmouth College professors when he was a teenager.
Robert Tulloch pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the 2001 slayings of married Dartmouth College professors Half and Suzanne Zantop inside their Hanover home. He was 17 years old at the time of the killings.
Judge Lawrence MacLeod ordered the transfer of disputed questions to the high court after concluding that the “constitutional issues in this case are significant and complex and have not yet been addressed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court.”
Questions by both parties must be submitted by Dec. 13.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court declared mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile murderers unconstitutional. Two years later, the state Supreme Court ruled that four minors sentenced to life without parole were entitled to new sentencing hearings, including Tulloch.
For Tulloch’s resentencing, the two sides disagree over whether the state allows life sentences without parole for minors, according to MacLeod’s order.
The Attorney General’s Office argues Tulloch, who is now 41, could ultimately receive the same sentence even with a new hearing.
Tulloch’s lawyers, Richard Guerriero and Oliver Bloom, disagree and argue a sentence of life without parole is cruel and unusual punishment for a child.
“Because of the differences between the adult mind and the juvenile mind, a New Hampshire sentencing court will never be able to determine whether a defendant whose crime occurred when he was a juvenile is beyond rehabilitation,” the attorneys wrote.
At a hearing on Sept. 25, both sides agreed that if the state constitution allows a sentence of life without the possibility for parole for minors, a court must find the child is incapable of change before imposing such a sentence.
Guerriero and Bloom argue that Tulloch’s prison record should be considered in the resentencing “as it relates to the offender’s capacity for change,” MacLeod wrote.
Tulloch and James Parker, who was then 16, planned to rob and kill someone that day in 2001 to get money to travel overseas. Tulloch was the mastermind behind the scheme.
In agreeing to become a key witness in a trial against Tulloch, Parker pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison.
Parker was released on parole in June. He is to have no contact with the Zantop family and will remain under supervision for the rest of his life.
The other three juveniles sentenced to life have already had resentencing hearings.
Michael Soto last Monday went before a judge to ask for the remainder of his 25-year sentence to be suspended. He was found guilty of giving a handgun to a friend who shot and killed Aaron Kar on Jan. 2, 2007.
Robert Dingman, who was sentenced to life for the 1996 murder of his parents, had his sentence reduced to a minimum of 40 years.
A judge re-sentenced Eduardo Lopez to 45 years to life for a killing during a 1991 armed robbery.
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