Odgren Lawyers Seek Lesser Sentence

The lawyers of John Odgren, the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School student convicted of murder after fatally stabbing classmate James Alenson in 2007, still have hope that their client won't  spend the rest of his life in prison.

On Monday, June 26, Middlesex Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty took under advisement a petition to have the teenager's conviction reduced from first-degree murder to second-degree murder. A first-degree murder would mandate an automatic life-sentence with no chance of parole; a second-degree murder charge could allow Odgren the chance of parole in 15 years. It may take up to several weeks before Haggerty makes a ruling.

Jonathan Shaprio, Odgren's lawyer said that the "evidence is much more consistent with second-degree murder," in large part because the defendant has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of autism.

"The weight of the evidence was that it wasn't premeditated," he said. "Also, it was not committed with extreme cruelty or atrocity because of the defendant's mental illness."

Shaprio believes that in addition to the Asperger's diagnosis, the defendant's age should be considered. When Odgren committed the murder, he was only 16 years old.

"Premeditation has to be considered in light of the fact juveniles and adolescents, because of their youth are impulsive and unable to consider the consequences of their conduct and make the moral judgments that adults can," Shapiro says.

The district attorney's office rejects the idea that Odgren's sentence should be reduced.

 In a statement released to the press District Attorney Gerry Leone said, "John Odgren was found guilty by a jury of 12 people for committing a premeditated, deliberate, cruel, and extremely atrocious stabbing murder of an unknown and defenseless classmate in the school bathroom, taking away the life of a beloved 15 year-old who had everything to live for. The defendant's trial was fairly and wisely presided over… We remain confident that the evidence at trial was sufficient as a matter of law to sustain conviction beyond a reasonable doubt."

Also hoping the judge doesn't give leniency to Odgren is Alenson's family who released their own statement saying, "As a family, the pain and suffering of having your child murdered is indescribable… To hear that John Odgren's imprisonment is unfair or cruel when he is the one who murdered our beloved son is unthinkable to us."