Judge upholds life in prison sentence for Rebecca Falcon

Add Us On GoogleAdd as a preferred source on Google

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG) - Judge Brantley Clark Jr. upheld the sentence of life in prison for Rebecca Falcon.

Falcon was 15 when she murdered cab driver Richard Phillips by shooting him in the back of the head on November 19, 1997.

Falcon and a friend got into Phillips cab and told him to drive down a dark street in Callaway. Falcon pulled out a gun and shot Phillips in the head, ultimately killing him.

In May of 1999, a Bay County jury found Falcon guilty and she was originally sentenced to life in prison.

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment. This ruling requires judges to take into account the characteristics of a juvenile in order to issue a fair sentence.

Because of the Supreme Court ruling, the Florida Supreme Court brought the case back to Bay County for an “individualized sentencing hearing”.

Rebecca Falcon received a new sentencing hearing on March 2-3, 2020.

After the hearing, Judge Clark upheld the life in prison sentence and filed a 20 page written order justifying his sentence.

“I am relieved for the surviving family of Mr. Phillips. Having to relive this experience has been extremely hard on them.” said prosecutor, Bob Sombathy.

Rebecca Falcon will be entitled to a sentence review 15 years from her sentencing date, July 21, 2020.