Cite as: 538 U. S. 11 (2003)
Appendix to opinion of Breyer, J.
2001). Thus, assuming a sentence to a term of years of up to 100 years (as in Montana, see supra, at 60), parole eligibility could arise as late as after 33 years.
South Dakota: maximum penalty of life imprisonment, with no minimum term. S. D. Codified Laws § 22-7-8 (1998); § 22-30A-17(1) (Supp. 2002). Eligible for parole after serving one-half of sentence. § 24-15-5(3) (1998). Thus, assuming a sentence to a term of years of up to 100 years (as in Montana, see supra, at 60), parole eligibility could arise as late as after 50 years.
Vermont: "up to and including life," Vt. Stat. Ann., Tit. 13, § 11 (1998), or not more than 10 years, § 2501; State v. Angel-ucci, 137 Vt. 272, 289-290, 405 A. 2d 33, 42 (1979) (court has discretion to sentence habitual offender to the sentence that is specified for grand larceny alone). Eligible for parole after six months. Tit. 28, § 501 (2000) (amended 2001).
West Virginia: Petitioner contends that he would only have been subject to a misdemeanor sentence of not more than 60 days for shoplifting, W. Va. Code §§ 61-3A-1, 61-3A-3(a)(2) (2000); Brief for Petitioner 31, n. 19, 33-34, n. 25. However, a Ewing-type offender could have been charged with grand larceny, see State ex rel. Chadwell v. Duncil, 196 W. Va. 643, 647-648, 474 S. E. 2d 573, 577-578 (1996) (prosecutor has discretion to charge defendant with either shoplifting or grand larceny), a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for 1 to 10 years (or, at the discretion of the trial court, not more than 1 year in jail). § 61-3-13(a). Under West Virginia's habitual offender statute, a felon "twice before convicted . . . of a crime punishable by confinement in a penitentiary . . . shall be sentenced to . . . life [imprisonment]," § 61-11-18(c), with parole eligibility after 15 years, § 62-12-13(c). Amicus curiae on behalf of petitioner notes that, in light of existing state-law precedents, West Virginia courts "would not countenance a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for 25 years for shoplifting golf clubs." Brief for Families Against Mandatory Minimums as Amicus
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