GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In a matter of months, the attorney for Jason Symonds will appeal his current sentencing before the Michigan Court of Appeals.

“Because Mr. Symonds was originally convicted by a jury trial, he has an absolute right to an appeal,” said attorney Alona Sharon.

At 16, Symonds was convicted for the 1994 rape and killing of 5-year-old Nicole VanNoty in Battle Creek.

Originally, he was given life without parole.

But because the U.S Supreme Court ruled it’s unconstitutional for juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole in 2016, he received a new life sentence during a hearing in 2023.

Sharon will help present findings she says show Symonds’ sentencing should be changed.

“The decisions in Miller and Montgomery found that his sentence was unconstitutional, and tha

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