"We find that Miller applies to sentences for juveniles that amount to a life sentence, regardless of the label applied by the trial court or the state," Baker said.

"In other words, if the effect of a sentence is that the juvenile will remain in prison for the rest of his days, with no meaningful opportunity to gain early release based on demonstrated rehabilitation, then that defendant has the right to a Miller sentencing hearing."

Based on that finding, the appeals court vacated Wilson's prison term and ordered a new sentencing hearing that takes into account the attendant characteristics of youth in general, as well as the youth and characteristics of the defendant being sentenced.

In Wilson's case, Baker noted that Wilson grew up in an "urban war zone" where as a child he saw at least three people shot, Wilson himself was shot twice as a child, and Wilson was forced to live "under threat of serious injury and death nearly every day."

There is no specific timeline for Wilson to be re-sentenced. He remains incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill Jr. also still can ask the Indiana Supreme Court to reverse the appellate ruling and restore Wilson's original prison term.

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