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Young man accused of murders to face possible life in prison without parole

On Behalf of | May 3, 2013 | Firm News, Murder & Other Homicide Crimes |

Last Friday, 20-year-old Michal Louding was convicted of murdering Terry Boyd in Baton Rouge in 2009. Louding, about whom we’ve previously written, testified last year during the first-degree murder trial of rapper Torence Hatch. The latter was acquitted in May of hiring Louding to kill Boyd, but Louding was unanimously found guilty of first-degree murder by a different jury in East Baton Rouge.

Prosecutors in the case say that Louding lied during the Hatch murder trial. He did not, however, testify at his own trial, though jurors viewed his videotaped police statements from May 2010 in which he confessed to shooting Boyd. 

At sentencing, Louding faces a maximum of life in prison without parole. Because he was only 17 at the time of the incident, he is not eligible for the death penalty.

 Louding faces four other counts of first-degree murder and another count of second-degree murder stemming from a series of fatal shooting over a 14-month period. Videotaped police statement reportedly show Louding also admitted to another murder, as well as taking part in several others. The prosecutor in the case was allowed to introduce evidence of other crimes, including the killing of these men.

Advocacy in the case is not over, though, as a hearing will now have to be held on the issue of whether Louding should face life in prison without parole. That is because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last June holding that states may no longer automatically sentence juveniles to life imprisonment without parole without holding a hearing to consider the defendant’s youth, upbringing, the circumstances of the crime and other relevant factors. 

Source: Source: The Advocate, “Jury convicts Louding of first-degree murder,” Joe Gyan Jr., April 28, 2013. 

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