28 June 2010 :

Superior Court Judge James Mulvihill sentenced Steven Fortin, who was once on New Jersey's death row, to life in prison without parole for sexually assaulting Melissa Padilla, 25, before killing her on Aug. 11, 1994. Fortin, 45, white, was sentenced in 2001 to death, but the state Supreme Court overturned his conviction on Feb. 3, 2004 (see). Another jury again found Fortin guilty of Padilla's murder in November 2007. He faced a possible death sentence after that conviction, but the state Legislature abolished capital punishment a month later. Fortin argued that he should be sentenced to life with the chance for parole after 30 years. It was the maximum sentence short of the death penalty available in 1994 when the crime took place. The state Supreme Court rejected that argument last year.