A family is traumatized all over again, nearly 30 years after the kidnapping, torture and murder of 8-year-old Michael Lyons of Yuba City. A law that went into effect in 2021 is allowing his killer a resentencing hearing.

"We're here because this family deserves finality and the fact that we're going to be here to argue over a one year prior conviction and whether or not he should get one extra year on a death sentence really flies in the face of justice for this family," said former Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, acting as a representative for the family.

Senate Bill 483, signed into law in 2021, makes certain old sentencing enhancements invalid. Robert Rhoades — convicted of sexually abusing, torturing and murdering Lyons — now falls under the criteria for a resenten

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