The justices of Maine's highest court today heard arguments in two appeals that call into question the state's sentencing law for murder convictions.

At separate hearings in Portland, defense lawyers Robert Andrews and Verne Paradie argued that the constitutional rights of their clients -- Michael Hutchinson and Peter Tuller -- were violated when judges used aggravating factors to sentence them to life in prison.

Those factors were determined by the judges in each case, not the juries that delivered the verdicts. The defense lawyers contend that any facts used to elevate a sentence to a lifetime imprisonment should be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury, rather than left to the discretion of a judge.

The lawyer for the state, Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber, said Maine trial judges should continue to have discretion in sentencing because that was the intent of the Legislature in its sentencing laws.

In Maine, murder is punishable by a period of 25 years to life in prison. It is the most serious punishment available in the state's judicial system, and has only been imposed 11 times in the last 15 years.

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