08 November 2017 :

The Arizona Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence imposed on Jasper Rushing, ruling that the trial court unconstitutionally failed to inform his sentencing jury that Rushing would be ineligible for parole if he was sentenced to life in prison. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Lynch v. Arizona, reiterated that when the prosecution places a defendant's future dangerousness at issue and the sentencing alternative to the death penalty is life without parole, due process entitles a defendant to a jury instruction explaining his or her parole ineligibility.