OUJI-CR 4-87B

LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE PROCEEDINGS - JUVENILES

By your verdict in the first part of this trial you have already found the defendant guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree. You must now determine the proper punishment.

Under the law of the State of Oklahoma, every person found guilty of murder in the first degree shall be punished by imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole, or imprisonment for life with the possibility of parole.

You are further instructed that [Defendant] was a juvenile when this crime was committed. The law regards juvenile offenders generally as having lesser moral culpability and greater capacity for change than adult offenders. An offender's youth matters in determining the appropriateness of the sentence in this case.

You are therefore instructed to consider, in determining the proper sentence, the defendant's youth and youth-related characteristics, the nature of the crime committed, as well as any other circumstances that would justify imposing a higher or lower punishment,

Committee Comments

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals directed use of a similar Instruction in White v. State, 2021 OK CR 29, ¶ 16, 499 P.3d 762, 769-770 The Committee deleted references to mitigating and aggravating circumstances to avoid confusion with death penalty concepts. In White the Court of Criminal Appeals provided a nonexhaustive list of factors concerning sentencing in a juvenile LWOP case. Id. at ¶¶ 14-15, 499 P.3d 762, 768.

(2024 Supp.)