Man convicted of murder as a teen to be resentenced again

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. -- A man who was convicted of murder as a teen will be resentenced a second time because the court did not consider the defendant's age as a mitigating factor as required by new case law, according to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Mark Abbatoy's 2016 sentence of 40-60 years for the murder of Connie DePalma was vacated and remanded for resentencing in a decision published Thursday.

Abbatoy was 17-years-old in May 1997 when he and 17-year-old Anthony DePalma planned to steal Connie's car so they could run away to California.

The two planned to knock out Connie, DePalma's mother, before stealing the car so they would have more time to get away before she reported the car stolen.

Abbatoy struck Connie in the head with a shovel three times while she was in the garage of her house. He then followed her into her home and struck her in the head several more times with the shovel. She died from the injuries.

Abbatoy and DePalma were tried at the same time, but had separate juries.

In 1997, they were both convicted of first-degree felony murder and sentenced to life without parole.

After the Supreme Court found mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders unconstitutional both were resentenced.

Abbatoy was resentenced to 40-60 years. DePalma was resentenced to 27 to 60 years and was released in September 2020.

Abbatoy appealed his new sentence alleging the court failed to consider his youth as a mitigating factor when he was resentenced in 2016, as required by case law.

The Michigan Court of Appeals reviewed the court record and found while his youth was discussed, it did not appear to have considered it a mitigating factor.

The appeals court vacated the 2016 and remanded the case for resentencing.

In a concurring opinion, one of the justices noted that the case law that requires a person's youth to be considered a mitigating factor, People v Boykin, also does not have requirements for courts to state on the record how the defendant's youth affected the sentencing decision.

The justice stated it makes it difficult for the appeals court to review a lower court's decision.