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A second man convicted in the 2009 abduction and death of a Chesterfield Township man has had his mandatory no-parole term overturned because he was a teenager at the time of the crime.
Robert "Fat Daddy" Taylor, now 20, a co-defendant in the August 2009 crime spree of armed bank robbery and carjackings that ended with the kidnapping and killing of Matthew Landry, 21, will be given a new sentencing hearing. The new hearing was ordered because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down mandatory no-parole sentences for murders committed by teenagers 17 and younger, the state Court of Appeals said in an opinion released Friday.
Taylor, of Detroit, was 16 at the time of the crimes. His co-defendant, Ihab Maslamani of Flint, then 17, also had his mandatory no-parole term overturned this week by the appeals court.
Prosecutors said Taylor helped Maslamani, who beat and shoved Landry into Landry's Honda Accord in the parking lot of an Eastpointe Quiznos on Aug. 9, 2009. Taylor acted as a lookout. Landry's body was found several days later in a burned-out house in Detroit.
Maslamani, now 21, was convicted in 2010 on 18 counts, including felony murder. Taylor was found guilty of six counts, which included the murder of Landry.
The appeals court affirmed the convictions of Maslamani and Taylor.
When Maslamani and Taylor return to Macomb County Circuit Court, the sentencing judge can issue the same penalties. But the judge now has the option of imposing a term of years or life with or without the possibility of parole.
Taylor's attorney during the trial had said there were no facts to support the crimes.
Maslamani's appellate attorney, Valerie Newman, said this week she will challenge the appeals court's decision upholding his convictions.
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