Nearly eight years after her father was murdered in his Wilkes-Barre home, Brittany Boote still keeps in touch with prosecutors who worked on putting Fred Boote's killers behind bars.
"We are completely indebted to them and their hard work within the justice system doing everything they can to make sure that we were protected and honored and represented," Boote said Tuesday.
Boote is worried a recent court ruling could result in a lesser sentence for Louisa Alexandria Reyes. A co-defendant who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in her father's 2018 killing, Reyes received a life sentence.
The state Supreme Court in March ruled that mandatory sentences of life without parole for second-degree felony murder are unconstitutional. The court gave the state General Assembly 120 days to pass legislation to fix that.
Their deadline is Friday.
The Senate passed a bill last month. As of Tuesday afternoon, the House had not done so.
Boote and other survivors of murder victims joined district attorneys, lawmakers and law enforcement officials from around Northeast Pennsylvania at the Luzerne County Courthouse to call for legislative action they say is needed.
State Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne County) noted that well over 1,000 cases statewide could be affected by the ruling. It was her bill the Senate passed.
"So the 1,100-plus sentences would then be up to each individual court of common pleas, each individual district attorney, each individual judge. You would then have resentencing, reviews of the cases, and chaos," Baker said.
Among them could be Reyes.
"I don't know what would specifically happen, but I think that her chances of being released would be higher," Boote said.
Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, who hosted Tuesday's press conference, acknowledges that there are many unknowns.
"There are people that are theorizing that all of these cases, from the beginning of time — for the people that are still alive at least — get resentenced, which is 1,100 hearings for prosecutors' offices across Pennsylvania," said Sanguedolce, who noted that there are at least 10 such cases in his county. He highlighted several on Tuesday, including Reyes' role in the death of Fred Boote.
"There are people that think it may go to the parole board. There are arguments that people that have not preserved this issue don't get a new hearing," Sanguedolce said. "But certainly there will be hearings about that. So this is tons of work, many man- and woman-hours for prosecutors' offices across the Commonwealth."
About the ruling
As the Associated Press reported, Pennsylvania’s high court in March overturned the use of automatic life sentences without parole for people convicted of second-degree murder.
The court's ruling in Commonwealth v. Lee said such sentences violate the state’s constitutional ban on cruel punishment when imposed without a closer look at the defendant’s specific role and culpability.
That decision, which dealt with a 2014 Pittsburgh homicide case, comes after years of advocacy to undo mandatory life without parole sentences both in Pennsylvania and nationally, the AP reported.
But it "also has implications for others among the roughly 1,000 other inmates currently serving similar second-degree murder sentences."
What Baker's bill proposes
"It's not that difficult to adjust sentencing moving forward, but there is a considerable difference of opinion on how to properly address interests of the families of victims with no sentence for these violent crimes," Baker said.
Her Senate Bill 1400 passed on June 25. It would establish a new system of sentencing for second-degree murder convictions, including the following, according to the text of the legislation:
● Providing discretion for courts to sentence based the degree of the defendant's culpability and the circumstances of the case.
● Generally authorizing a sentencing range of 35 years to up to life, with the possibility of parole.
● There will be two "fail safes" for outlier cases:
— First, the bill would establish a release valve for defendants with minimal culpability, authorizing a court to sentence below the 35-year minimum, but no less than 10 years, when specific criteria are met.
— Second, the bill would establish a life without parole option, should the prosecutor choose to pursue that sentence and the jury specifically determine that the defendant caused the death of the victim and an additional aggravating factor.
● The legislation would allow offenders currently serving sentences for second-degree murder to become eligible for parole after serving at least 35 years incarceration or attaining the age of 70 and having served at least 20 years.
"With a lot of thought and consideration, the Senate assembled a proposal that answered the court's objections," Baker said.
In the House's hands
It's up to the House to act.
State Rep. Brenda Pugh (R-Luzerne County), who attended Tuesday's press conference, sits on the House Judiciary Committee.
"We just need to get it out of committee and onto the floor," Pugh said. "I'll drive to Harrisburg right now if they say we can bring it out for a vote."
But there was no word as of Tuesday afternoon.
"I'm waiting. I check my emails multiple times a day, hoping that we get called," Pugh said, adding that the committee vote could be held by Zoom if needed.
"You see the victims that are here. It's heartbreaking to put them through this again," Pugh said.
Prosecutors urge action
Sanguedolce took to the podium, joined by fellow DAs from Carbon, Lackawanna, Sullivan, Wayne, Schuylkill, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties.
Together with their counterparts from Monroe and Pike counties, they drafted an open letter calling for action and spotlighting a number of local cases, including the death of Fred Boote, in which failure to pass new legislation could mean resentencing for defendants.
Felony murder "is committed while (the) defendant was engaged as a principal or an accomplice in the perpetration of a felony," the letter pointed out.
Sanguedolce noted that second-degree murder "cannot occur during the course of just any felony."
Rather, previous legislators and the then-governor determined second-degree murder be limited to six felonies deemed "to be so dangerous, their commission is likely to result in a death," the DAs' letter said.
Those felonies are robbery, rape, deviate sexual intercourse by force or threat of force, arson, burglary, or kidnapping.
In Boote's case, for example, the investigation revealed that Reyes conspired with her boyfriend, Reynaldo Mercado, to go to the home to rob Boote, who was dating Reyes' mother.
Mercado, who was convicted of first-degree murder and other counts, is serving life in prison.
Investigators said that as he was assaulting Boote, Reyes handed Mercado a kitchen knife, which he used to stab Boote to death.
Sanguedolce said prosecutors are concerned about cases like Reyes', and not "getaway drivers at bank robberies."
"The fact of the matter is, in cases where you have a participant like that, you usually negotiate a plea for them to testify against the real murderer. The most culpable person is always the person that we're trying to get," Sanguedolce said.
"So, if you add a facet to the second-degree murder hearing, whether or not the person is actually culpable, that would be acceptable to DAs across the Commonwealth because it's something we have to prove anyway," he said.
"In the cases I outlined, there wasn't an innocent person there. It wasn't someone sitting outside that didn't do anything," Sanguedolce added.
What prosecutors do not want to see is a law that lowers the sentences too much.
"There are arguments that a minimum sentence should be 20 years. That's far too few years," Sanguedolce said.
"I think we're looking for a reasonable guarantee that they're going to spend the majority of their adult life in prison."
Brittany Boote agreed.
"I hope that everything happens in a way that protects victims and protects victims' families and keeps people who have committed unforgivable crimes, violent crimes, in jail, so that they can't get out and do something that affects more families," she said.
