Michigan appeals court vacates sentence of juvenile lifer convicted of raping and killing 5

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered the trial court on Wednesday to vacate J ason Symond's life sentence without parole.

Symonds, now 47, was 16 years old when he raped and murdered 5-year-old Nicole VanNoty in Battle Creek in 1994.

The original judge imposed what was then a mandated life sentence without parole.

But years later, after changes in the law, juvenile life sentences must be reconsidered using the Miller factors. This requires courts to evaluate a juvenile offender's age, their background, their role in the crime and their potential to be rehabilitated.

In Symonds' case, the appellate judges said the trial court made two errors: Improperly treating Symonds' failure to accept responsibility as an aggravating factor and improperly using Symonds' vio