A legal battle is brewing over how severely teenagers can be sentenced for Semmes overdose

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Prosecutors and defense officials clashed Thursday over a novel legal battle over how long a teenager can be sentenced in a fatal fentanyl overdose case in Semmes.

A Mobile County jury found Jackson Powell Lewis guilty in September of killing Adrianna Taylor, a 15-year-old Mary G. Montgomery High School student. The verdict, however, was manslaughter, a misdemeanor, and not the crime of manslaughter originally charged by prosecutors.

The maximum penalty for the offense is one year. But the jury also found 19-year-old Lewis guilty of drug distribution. This is a felony, but under sentencing guidelines the maximum sentence is eight years and one month behind bars.

Prosecutors want Mobile County Circuit Judge Jay York to consider the victim's death an aggravating factor, which would allow him to impose a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Defense attorney Jeff Deen argued that prosecutors failed to provide proper notice before the trial.

“They want to take a step back and do something they should have done before,” he said outside the courtroom.

The question centers on the application of sentencing guidelines that have not existed in Alabama all that long, and there appears to be little precedent to guide York. Deen and Mobile County Assistant District Attorney Eric Van Loock both told him they were unaware of any substantive appeals court rulings.

After Thursday's brief hearing, York said he would consider the arguments and then make a decision before sentencing Lewis. If he sides with the defense, the case would immediately proceed to sentencing with the lower maximum penalty. If he rules in favor of the Mobile County District Attorney's Office, it is unclear whether he could proceed to conviction or would have to convene a new jury to determine whether prosecutors have proven that aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt.

Typically, prosecutors must notify the defense at least seven days before trial that they intend to seek a harsher sentence because of an “aggravating factor.” Deen noted that the rule specifically states that notice “shall” be given.

“I don’t think there’s any wiggle room. … You can’t change the rules on the back end,” he said in court. “I don’t think there’s any wiggle room.”

Van Loock told the judge that prosecutors had not originally sought a sentence increase because the manslaughter charge did not require it. He argued that the notice was unnecessary because the defense itself had already been informed of it by virtue of the charge presented to the jury.

“In fact, they determined beyond a reasonable doubt that he had provided her with a pill that actually caused her death,” he said.

Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood told FOX10 News that if the judge rules that a jury must decide whether to seek an aggravated remedy, it would essentially require a retrial of the entire case. He argued that this was not necessary because the fatal overdose was the central issue in the trial.

“It’s pretty simple,” he said. “The point is that the pill that the defendant distributed caused the death of the victim. In our opinion, this is a self-explanatory nuisance factor that has already been unanimously determined by a jury.”

Deen said the evidence made it clear that both the defendant and the victim abused drugs together.

“This is a sad case,” he told FOX10 News. “There are two young people, teenagers… who decide to buy a pill, crush it up and snort it. It takes two to tango. They did it together. He almost died. Unfortunately she did.”

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