(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the sentence of a Fairfield teen who pleaded guilty to murdering his Spanish teacher. Willard Miller, who was 16 at the time of the crime, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 35 years. Miller’s attorney argued there should be expert testimony about sentencing a juvenile to a mandatory minimum sentence, and Miller’s attorney called the sentence unconstitutional.

The justices’ opinion says the Iowa Constitution does not ban giving minimum sentences to juveniles and it says there’s no state law requiring expert testimony. Miller and another student pleaded guilty to murdering Fairfield Spanish teacher Nohema Graber (noh-AY-muh GRAY-ber) three years ago.

The Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice, who wrote the unanimous opinion, said: “the harm to Graber and her family is no less because Miller committed the crime as a juvenile.”