The court has appointed a public defender to represent the convicted killer of Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop so he can explore his options under a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that made automatic life sentences without possibility of parole for juvenile killers unconstitutional.

Grafton County Superior Court Judge Timothy J. Vaughan on Sept. 7 granted New Hampshire Public Defender Richard C. Guerriero’s motion to represent Robert Tulloch, 29, the former Vermont man serving two consecutive life sentences without chance of parole for the Jan. 27, 2001, murders of the married couple inside their Hanover home.

Tulloch was 17 at the time.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and murder conspiracy in 2002.

First-degree murder convictions carry automatic life sentences without possibility of parole in New Hampshire.

In its Miller v. Alabama decision on June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such automatic sentencing schemes for people who were under the age of 17 at the time of their crimes violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban against cruel and unusual punishment.

While the court can still impose a life sentence without chance of parole for juvenile murderers, it can no longer be mandatory. Defendants are entitled to individual sentencing hearings where evidence of mitigating and aggravating factors can be presented.

Tulloch needs an attorney to represent him given “the seriousness of the charges, the severity of the sentences, and the complexity of the legal issues involved, including what type of relief to seek, how to seek it, where to seek it, and whether the Miller decision is retroactive,” Guerriero wrote in his motion.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery A. Strelzin, the head of the state’s homicide bureau, did not object to the motion, he added.

It is unclear whether the Miller decision would apply retroactively to Tulloch, who pleaded guilty to the crimes, thereby giving up his right to appeal.

Tulloch contacted the New Hampshire Public Defender’s office in August to seek advice regarding his rights under the Miller decision.

Tulloch’s accomplice, James Parker, then 16, turned state’s witness and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Both teens were from Chelsea, Vt., and selected the Zantops’ home for their rob-and-kill scheme at random.

Guerriero was one of the attorneys who represented Tulloch before the trial court.

So far, Tulloch is the second convicted juvenile murderer in New Hampshire to seek relief under the Miller decision.

The court this week granted Steven Spader’s request for a resentencing hearing for both his life prison sentence for the 2009 murder of Mont Vernon mother Kimberly L. Cates and a 76-years-to-life sentence for the attempted murder of her then 11-year-old daughter and related crimes.

Spader, 20, was 17 at the time of the crimes. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have said they consider his case most likely eligible for relief under Miller given his conviction and sentencing are pending appeal before the state Supreme Court.

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Kathryn Marchocki may be reached at kmarchocki@unionleader.com.