CHARDON, Ohio -- Attorneys on Wednesday will argue the severity of T.J. Lane's sentence in the same courtroom where he mocked his victims’ families a year ago.

Lane, 19, pleaded guilty to killing three students and shooting three others at Chardon High School in 2012. He was sentenced last March to three life terms in prison. He was 17 at the time of the shooting, and his age is the basis of his appeal.

Attorney Michael Partlow is expected to argue before the Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals that an offender who commits a crime as a juvenile should not be sentenced to life in prison. Geauga County prosecutors are expected to counter, citing the horror of the shooting and Lane’s calculating efforts to carry it out.

The appellate panel is scheduled to hear the case in the courtroom of Geauga County Common Pleas Judge David Fuhry. At his sentencing last year, Lane smirked and pointed his middle finger at the families of his victims.

He also took off his blue shirt and displayed a T-shirt with the word ''killer'' on it. Lane had worn a sweatshirt with the word on it when he shot the students.

Fuhry, who looked down at notes during much of the hearing and saw Lane from an angle, said he did not notice the shirt.

In an interview, Partlow said Lane's age will be a focus of his argument. The case has gained new importance after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that judges must specifically discuss a youth's age in court when sentencing a teenager to life in prison without parole.

The case involved a teenager, Eric Long, sentenced to life in prison without parole for shootings in Cincinnati. But the ruling does not mean that a judge must change the sentence. It also doesn't necessarily indicate that Lane would get a new hearing, either.

Geauga County Prosecutor James Flaiz also has said that the issue of age will be a key issue in Lane's appeal. He stressed that Fuhry handled the matter correctly.

Lane is not expected to attend the hearing. Partlow and Flaiz's office each will have 15 minutes to argue before the appellate panel.

Lane is serving his sentence at the Allen Correctional Institution in Lima. On Feb. 27, 2012, he fired 10 shots in the school’s cafeteria, striking and killing Daniel Parmertor, 16; Demetrius Hewlin, 16; and Russell King Jr., 17.

His shots also struck Nick Walczak, who is in a wheelchair because of it, and Nate Mueller and Joy Rickers, who suffered minor injuries.

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