In Brief
The Supreme Court resolved a significant question of law on consecutive life sentences in criminal cases. The Court held that while a trial court can award multiple life sentences for multiple murders tried together in a single trial, these life sentences cannot be directed to run consecutively. Since imprisonment for life means imprisonment for the remainder of the offender's life, and a person has only one life span, directing consecutive life sentences would be logically impossible and irrational. Multiple life sentences must run concurrently and be superimposed, meaning remission of one sentence does not automatically benefit another. However, term sentences can run consecutively before a life sentence commences.
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