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New sentencing hearing for Tyler Hadley

Posted at 8:03 PM, Apr 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-27 20:26:27-04

Mike Hadley still can't believe his brother and sister-in-law are gone. Murdered by his nephew Tyler Hadley in 2011.

At times his anger turns to sadness. Mike Hadley, Tyler Hadley's uncle, said, "I think of him every day. There's not a day that I don't wake up and think about him. Blake, always on our minds and in our hearts. I miss him so much."

And today, Mike Hadley learned that an appeals court ruled Tyler, sentenced to two consecutive life terms in 2014, should get a new sentencing hearing. "I think it's insane. I don't like rehashing this over again. Sad that this is happening but it's opening old wounds and I really thought that this was over with," Mike said.

Legal Analyst Michelle Suskauer says the appellate court ruled the judge in Hadley's original hearing did not consider the correct alternative to a life sentence, "Error number one that the court consider incorrectly that Tyler Hadley capital felony in his criminal history, he did not."

She says there was another reason, "Tyler was sentenced during a period of time where it was uncertainty as to how to appropriately sentence a juvenile. There was a U.S. Supreme Court case the miller case in 2012 and in 2015 the Florida legislature revamped the juvenile sentencing system."

For Mike Hadley, it's more disappointment. "He got a lighter sentence. They did not give him the death penalty. He got to live."

A new sentencing hearing has not be scheduled yet.