In State Supreme Court in Suffolk County, Stephen LaValle...

In State Supreme Court in Suffolk County, Stephen LaValle was resentenced to life without parole for the 1997 rape-murder of Cynthia Quinn. LaValle, 37, is 1 of 4 men whose death sentences were invalidated by the 4-3 ruling of the state's highest court on June 24 (see). The majority found that jury instructions in capital punishment cases violated the state constitutional because they might pressure some reluctant jurors into voting for death by lethal injection. The court also ordered prosecutors to withdraw notices of intent to seek the death penalty in 9 other pending cases. The judges had given prosecutors an option to have LaValle resentenced to life without parole, or 20 to 25 years in prison with possible parole. The lesser sentence had been a trial court's only recourse if jurors deadlocked over the choice of life or death. LaValle killed 32-year-old Cynthia Quinn in Medford on May 31, 1997.