P. v. Rodriguez CA1/3
Following a jury trial, defendant Michael Elijah Rodriguez was convicted of the first degree, premeditated murder of Julio Pantoja-Cuevas (Cuevas) and a gang-related special circumstance and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Defendant was 18 years 3 months and 9 days old on the day he killed Cuevas. On appeal and in a consolidated petition for a writ of habeas corpus, defendant asserts he was “a particularly immature eighteen year old” and, therefore, that his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment’s proscription against cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantees of equal protection and due process of law. We disagree and affirm.
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