2020 Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court Finals

Petitioner Jacob Azrilyant robbed three individuals on April 13, 2018. The victims were leaving a bar late at night, and Azrilyant approached them brandishing a handgun. Petitioner took $27 in cash and an iPhone from Victim 1, $15 in cash from Victim 2, and $33 and a Samsung Galaxy phone from Victim 3. When police arrested Petitioner, he confessed to the robbery and turned over everything that was stolen. Petitioner was 17 years old at the time of the crime and stated that he intended to sell the phones as he was in need of money after losing his job and not being financially supported by his parents. He intended to rob whoever left the bar last.

 

Petitioner was charged with three counts of armed robbery by a criminal information approved by the District Attorney for Respondent State of New Columbia and released on his own recognizance. Petitioner submitted a motion to dismiss the criminal information, arguing that failure to be indicted by a grand jury violated his constitutional due process rights. His motion was denied. Petitioner offered to plead guilty to one count of armed robbery, but the District Attorney insisted that the law required he be charged with three counts. Petitioner plead guilty to the three counts but reserved his grand jury objection. At his sentencing hearing, Petitioner raised a constitutional objection to the mandatory minimum of 30 years for each count of armed robbery, which under New Columbia law, must be served consecutively. The sentencing judge rejected this argument. Petitioner was sentenced to a total sentence of 90 years. Petitioner’s appeals have brought the case of Azrilyant v. State of New Columbia to the Supreme Court of the United States, which granted certiorari on two issues.

Issue I

Did the State of New Columbia violate Petitioner’s constitutional right to due process by charging him through a criminal information rather than indicting him by a grand jury?

Issue II

Is it constitutional to impose a mandatory sentence of 90 years, without parole, on a juvenile not convicted of homicide where that sentence amounts to the remainder of his expected life?