For the first time in nearly eight years, Joshua Phillips appeared in a Duval County courtroom Monday. He was seeking resentencing in the 1998 murder of 8-year-old Maddie Clifton.
Phillips was 14 when he killed Clifton and hid her body inside a waterbed in his Lakewood home. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
His return to court follows the Florida Supreme Court ruling against life sentences without parole for minors. Though the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in 2020, Phillips is now pursuing a resentencing based on these rulings.
Tuesday’s hearing lasted less than two minutes after Phillips’ attorneys requested more time to review case files.
“We were just recently appointed,” one attorney told the judge. “So I haven’t had a chance to go through essentially all the files.”
The judge granted the request. Phillips’ legal team said it would take several months to prepare, The appeal will likely focus on his age and maturity at the time of the crime.
Local defense attorney Chris Carson, who is not involved in the case, noted that while Florida courts have opened the door for sentence reviews, success will be hard to obtain.
“It would take very compelling evidence for a judge to modify the sentence,” Carson said. “Depending on what the nature of the mitigation is, that’s probably going to dictate the timeline.”
The judge has ordered the case to head to court on July 8.
