In re Kirchner CA4/1
The district attorney appeals the trial court's order granting Kristopher Kirchner's petition for habeas corpus. The trial court correctly concluded the holdings of Miller v. Alabama (2012) 567 U.S. 460 (Miller) and People v. Gutierrez (2014) 58 Cal.4th 1354 (Gutierrez) apply retroactively in state collateral proceedings such as the one presented here and that the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution requires that when inmates, such as Kirchner, are serving life terms for crimes committed while they were juveniles, they must, except in the most extraordinary circumstances, be given an opportunity to seek parole. (See Montgomery v. Lousiana (2016) ___U.S.___ [136 S.Ct. 718, 193 L.Ed.2d 599] (Montgomery).)
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