New Sentencing Ordered for San Mateo Teen in Gas Station Murder

A San Mateo man who was 16 when he took part in a gas station robbery in which the cashier was fatally shot will get a new sentence after a state appeals court overturned his life-without-parole sentence, according to SFGate.com.

Michael Pulido was 16 when the crime occurred in May 1992, in which a cashier, Ramon Flores, was killed in a late-night robbery of a San Mateo Shell station.

Pulido admitted the robbery but claimed that the gunman was his uncle, who was not charged, according to SFGate.com.

The First District Court of Appeal said Monday that a judge must consider Pulido's youth and immaturity at the time of the crime, as well as his prospects for rehabilitation, before deciding whether to give him a chance of future parole.

A San Mateo County jury convicted Pulido of first-degree murder for taking part in a fatal robbery but deadlocked over whether he had shot Flores.

The trial judge, the late Walter Harrington, said he was convinced Pulido was the killer and sentenced him to life without parole.

The U.S. Supreme Court, which had barred death sentences for juveniles in 2006, ruled last year that states should rarely sentence minors to life without parole, could not make such sentences mandatory and must review a youth's maturity, emotional development and upbringing before deciding on permanent imprisonment.

California's law, which creates a presumption for life-without-parole sentences for juveniles convicted of murder punishable by death for adults, is under review by the state Supreme Court in two other cases.

In Monday's ruling, the appeals court said a new judge must examine the factors cited by the high court before deciding whether to sentence Pulido to 25 years to life or reimpose the no-parole term.