KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Attorneys for Almeer Nance have asked a judge to reopen the proceedings surrounding Nance's sentence for a 1996 murder. Nance, who was 16 years old at the time, was with Robert Manning, 19, at a RadioShack in West Knox County when Manning shot and killed Joseph Ridings.
Nance said he didn't pull the trigger, but a jury found him guilty of murder.
Court documents show Nance agreed to a sentence that would make him eligible for parole after 76 years because of his murder conviction, and an aggravated kidnapping conviction from later that night in 1996.
Lawyers for Nance, in a new filing, argue the sentence violated Nance's rights in the Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Nance did not understand the agreement he made with prosecutors, the attorney said.
"It is likely that everyone at the time, including Mr. Nance, misunderstood the nature of the decision being made," wrote Melissa C. DiRado, Nance's attorney.
DiRado also argued Nance didn't voluntarily agree to the sentencing agreement, because he was forced to make a quick decision.
"Mr. Nance was given only a few minutes to make the decision that would determine the rest of his life," DiRado wrote.
After that agreement, Nance would've been eligible for release in 2071, when he would be 92 years old. But, in 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled life sentences for juveniles are cruel and unusual. Nance's release date on the Tennessee Department of Correction inmate database has now changed to 2028.
DiRado argues the Tennessee Supreme Court Ruling said Nance's sentence is unconstitutional. She asked the court to reopen the sentencing proceedings for Nance's murder trial.
Nance is scheduled for a status hearing in Judge Hector Sanchez's court in Knox County on Jan. 26, 2024.