Third try, same result, for Denum Null

CEDAR RAPIDS - The third crack at sentencing a man convicted as a juvenile for robbing and killing 26-year-old Kevin Bell in 2010 ended with the same results Friday in Linn County District Court.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill recited his original reasons for sentencing Denum Null, now 23, to consecutive prison terms of 50 years for second-degree murder and 25 years for first-degree robbery. He would spend 75 years in prison.

Null, 16 at the time, was convicted of robbing and killing Bell, a resident of Cedar Rapids. He pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree murder. Gabriel Taylor, 17 at the time, and Johven Lee, 21 at the time, also were convicted for their part in the robbery. They both pleaded to lesser charges and are serving prison terms.

On Friday, Thornhill said he had run the sentences consecutively rather then concurrently in 2011 because Null, along with the other two, went to rob Bell at his apartment. But Null brought a gun and shot Bell in the head.

Null's attorney appealed the sentence after the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned life sentences for juveniles and made mandatory minimums unconstitutional.

The Iowa Supreme Court upheld Null's conviction but threw out the 75-year sentence and asked Thornhill to reconsider his sentence based on the changes. In 2015, Thornhill resentenced Null to the same 75 years in prison but dropped the mandatory minimum, making Null eligible for parole in May 2045.

The Iowa Court of Appeals sent the case back to district court in August, ruling on a second appeal that Thornhill had failed to explain why he'd sentenced Null to consecutive terms in prison.

Null, who is incarcerated at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, briefly testified about being before the parole board twice for annual reviews in May 2015 and 2016. He was denied parole twice because he hadn't served enough time on his sentences and had not had enough time for rehabilitation, the board stated.

Null also testified he can't get the programming he needs for rehabilitation because inmates have to be within seven years of their discharge date to receive the services. He told the judge he wanted the opportunity to rehabilitate himself instead of just sitting in his cell.

Mark Meyers, Null's attorney, argued robbery and murder are 'intimately” related charges and that Null's crime was basically one offense - so the sentences should run concurrent for 50 years, rather than consecutively. He noted that running the terms concurrently would move up Null's discharge date and allow him to benefit earlier from rehabilitation.

Thornhill, at the previous resentencing, said he considered the factors required by the 2012 Supreme Court ruling and said a sentencing judge has discretion as long as he has considered them.

The appeals court agreed that Thornhill considered each of the factors and couldn't say it was an abuse of his discretion.

The court took issue only because he didn't 'explicitly state the reasons” for ordering consecutive sentences. He did that Friday.

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