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Roper Vs Simmons Case Study

1385 Words6 Pages

Roper Vs. Simmons

Christopher Simmons committed a capital murder in September of 1993. Simmons was only 17 at the time. Simmons had an accomplice, his friend Charles Benjamin who was only 15 years old. They were both from St. Louise Missouri. Both being minors, they thought that they would get away with the murder due to their young age. On a warm summer night, Christopher and Charles met at a local park at about two in the morning. They discussed there plan of action. They planned to tie the women up with duct tape, bring her back to the very park and push her down the hill into the river. That is exactly what they did. They brought her body to the Meramec river dumped her in and that is where she drowned. There has been no prior evidence …show more content…

Simmons still believed that he would not serve hard time due to his young age. He openly admitted to committing the murder and had even agreed to act out the said crime on video tape for the police. He did not know that this could be used as evidence against him later on in trial. The case eventually made its way to trial. Simmons lawyer pleaded with the jury to not agree upon the death penalty due to Simmons young age and clean criminal record. The jury however was to upset by the cruel act committed by such young men, with such little motive that they sentenced him to death. Upset by the verdict, Simmons appealed and hired a new lawyer. His new lawyer asked the court to review his case, but sadly both the local and Missouri Supreme Court stood with their conviction. While Simmons was starting to serve his time, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it was unconstitutional to give the death penalty to the mentally challenged in 2003. Due to this new law Simmons case was reviewed once again. They had come to the conclusion that due to a national consensus, many are against the death penalty of juvenile offenders. They then sentenced Simmons to life in prison without the chance of parole. The State of Missouri appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. On January 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Roper v.

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