Jacksonville man convicted of murdering 8-year-old girl fighting for life sentence review
Action News Jax has been following the case since Clifton was first found dead in 1998. The case has gained national attention, in part, because of its nature. Clifton's body had been found beaten and stabbed in Phillips' waterbed. He was 14 years old at the time and was sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole.
Phillips made his first appearance inside a Duval County courtroom on Monday since 2017. During a hearing where the judge was expected to set a date to review his sentence, his recently appointed lawyers asked for at least a few months' time in preparing a case to argue for Phillips to receive a new sentence.
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The case they're expected to make is Phillips' age both when he committed the murder and when he was first convicted. Criminal defense attorney Chris Carson says the Florida Supreme Court has ruled against minors receiving a life sentence since Phillips' conviction.
'If someone was under the age of 18, there had to be some manner of opportunity for that person to seek recourse,' Carson said.
Phillips and his lawyers had made this argument in Duval County court back in 2017, but he was resentenced to life in prison after the court rejected it. Court records show another attempt by his lawyers to have his sentence reviewed in 2020, but the Florida Supreme Court denied it.
Carson tells Action News Jax he doesn't expect Phillips' sentence to change because of the nature of the murder and the attention it has received.
'The technical reality is he has to be given an opportunity to present that evidence,' said Carson, 'the practical reality is it would take some very compelling evidence for a judge to modify the sentence at this point.'
Whatever case Phillips' lawyers decide to make, Carson said it could take months for them to build it.
'There can be things that involve, you know, psychologists, psychiatrists, even medical doctors. So, depending on the nature of the mitigation, that's going to dictate the timeline,' Carson said.
The judge ordered that the next day, this case would go to court on July 8th. We're expecting to hear an update from Phillips' lawyers on where they are in building their case for a sentence review.
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