TULSA — The jury in the Michael Bever case didn’t waste a lot of time coming to a verdict on the count of assault with intent to kill during the sentencing phase of the trial.
After convicting him on all six counts of murder and assault in the deaths of his family members and the near-fatal attack on his sister, they heard testimony Thursday on possibly mitigating his sentence.
They recommended he serve 28 years in prison for the assault; now, they’ll begin considering whether he should serve life, or life without parole, for the five murder convictions.
The State of Oklahoma calculates a life sentence at 45 years; it’s also an 85% crime, which means the convict has to serve 85% of the sentence before they’re eligible for parole.
Because he was a minor at the time of the crimes, the death penalty is not an option.
So on a 45-year sentence, Bever would have to serve 38.25 years before he could even apply for parole - and that’s if the sentences run concurrently.
The jury will return to the courtroom Friday to hear testimony before making recommendations on the murder counts.
The judge could possibly overrule the jury and impose a different sentence, though that rarely happens.