PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man sentenced to life in prison for aggravated murder committed when he was 16 years old has lost an appeal claiming that juveniles have gotten tougher sentences than adults.
The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that rules adopted by the state parole board in 1999 can be applied to Shane Sopher, who helped his girlfriend kill her mother in 1992.
Sopher says juveniles convicted of aggravated murder must serve longer minimum terms than adults under those rules — even though there was no minimum for 16-year-olds when he was convicted.
Sopher must serve 33 years before his scheduled parole hearing in November 2025.
But he did win a partial victory with the Court of Appeals, which allowed Sopher to challenge the board’s rules on jurisdictional grounds.
