A teenage girl who was sentenced as an adult for her role in starting a house fire that injured her father had her sentence reduced at a motion hearing Tuesday, July 19.
Attorneys representing Alexis Penn and the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office came to the agreement filed to correct an invalid sentence in Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John McBain's courtroom.
Penn's original sentence of seven to 20 years imprisonment for her role in intentionally starting the Nov. 2, 2014 fire when she was 15 years old was reduced to five to 20 years in a new plea agreement.
In the agreement, Penn once again pleaded guilty by mental illness, knocking two years off her original minimum sentence of seven years.
Chief Appellate Attorney Jerrold Schrotenboer said the prosecutor's office was pleased with the new deal, adding that Penn likely will be available for parole if the case goes to appellate court.
The motion hearing originally was set as a precursor for an evidence hearing regarding Penn's original sentence. That hearing has been dismissed following the new deal.
"What we are dealing with is probably a very long and complicated evidentiary hearing," McBain said. "I anticipate it wouldn't stop in this court. It would end up in the federal court for many years while they explore the various constitutionality issues, equal protection issues and concerns of the confinement of minor children in Michigan correctional facilities."
When handing down Penn's original sentence in September 2015, McBain stated for the record he believed the case would have been better handled as a juvenile case.