A state appeals court has affirmed the 4,060-year prison sentence given to a Springtown, Texas, man in 2008 for sexually abusing three teenage girls.
The Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth issued its opinion Thursday regarding the 43 guilty verdicts and unprecedented prison sentence for James Kevin Pope.
Pope, 44, was convicted by a Parker County jury in July 2008 on 40 counts of sexual assault of a child and three counts of sexual performance of a child.
"It is my understanding that the defendant will be appealing this ruling to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, our State’s highest criminal appellate court" said Assistant District Attorney Eddy Lewallen.
Lewallen added that a review by that court "is at their discretion except in death penalty cases."
"They will typically grant review," he explained, "in situations where there is a novel legal issue, a difference of opinion between the courts of appeals on a particular issue, or when there is a dissenting opinion on the particular case, which there was not in Mr. Pope’s appeal."
Pope will not be eligible for parole until 3209, Parker County authorities have said.
The 4,060-year penalty -- almost 1.5 million days -- has been called the longest stacked sentence handed down in Texas history.
Jurors took about three hours to convict Pope on the 43 charges. The jury gave 100 years for each sexual assault conviction, and 20 years for each sexual performance conviction.
Read the complete story at star-telegram.com
.jpg)
Comments