Supreme Court Rejects Oklahoma Case Over Rape Convict's Sentence

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the case of Oklahoma inmate Keighton Budder, who was convicted of rape and other charges as a youth, and had his life sentence thrown out.

Budder was initially sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison, plus 20 years. Under state law he would've had to serve nearly 132 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit said this year that the sentence violates a Supreme Court ruling banning life-without-parole sentences for juvenile non-homicide offenders. The case was sent back to state courts for Budder to be resentenced.

The high court chose to let stand that federal appeals court ruling that set aside the life term.

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