Court sides with Neal on resentencing, hearing rescheduled

Wall, filing on behalf of the State of Washington, had argued that the court would exceed its authority by granting Neal the hearing because the state legislature had not enacted a statutory fix to resolve issues stemming from a 2021 Washington State Supreme Court decision, which found that people sentenced to mandatory life without parole sentences for crimes committed when they were 18-20 years old should be eligible for consideration of any mitigating factors of youth by the sentencing court.

The Monschke decision, named after a defendant convicted of aggravated first degree murder who ultimately received a resentencing hearing in Snohomish County based on the Supreme Court’s finding, opened doors to other inmates in the custody of the state who were of the same age group at the time of the commission of the crimes.

Neal will return to Klickitat County Superior Court on March 6 for a reconsideration of his sentence barring any further delays.

Neal had argued for a reconsideration of his mandatory life without parole sentence under the 2021 decision, seeking a hearing that would require the court to hear testimony based on his youthfulness and diminished culpability as he was 19 years old at the time of the crimes he committed.

In April 2001, Neal pled guilty to two charges of aggravated first degree murder in the deaths of Dionna Gomez and Carlos Mendoza, and guilty to one charge of first degree murder in the death of Juan Olmos.