BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A California appeals court is sending the case of Trezell and Jacqueline West back to a Kern County courtroom for a new sentencing hearing, but not to revisit the verdict.
Trezell and Jacqueline West were convicted in 2023 of second-degree murder in the death of their adopted son, Orrin, 4, and willful cruelty to their other adopted son, Orson, 3. Both children were reported missing in 2020 and never found.
A jury found the couple guilty, and they were sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. That conviction still stands today.
Years later, the case is heading back to court for a new sentencing hearing because of how the original sentence was structured, rather than new evidence.
Local attorney Kyle Humphrey said the issue comes down to one key principle: defendants cannot be punished twice for the same act. An appeals court found the second-degree murder and child abuse convictions were based on the same act, meaning the law only allows one punishment. A judge must now decide which sentence to keep.
"So if you’re going to be convicted of murder for doing a single act, you can’t also be convicted for child endangerment for that same single act," Humphrey said.
While the sentence could technically change, Humphrey said that is unlikely.
"Chances are that, in his mind, he knew this was a 15-to-life case," Humphrey said. "So now when they come back, he’ll have to exercise his discretion and state the reasons that went unstated before as to why that higher sentence is appropriate."
"I just don’t see that happening," Humphrey said. "The judge, even though he didn’t state the reasons in choosing the murder sentence, I’m confident he thought about it and felt that was an appropriate sentence."
While this resentencing could adjust how the punishment is applied, the murder convictions themselves remain in place, and the original sentence could very well stay the same.
The resentencing hearing date has not yet been finalized.
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