JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The man convicted of killing an 8-year-old Jacksonville girl over 25 years ago was back in court again Tuesday.
Action News Jax has been following the murder of Maddie Clifton since it happened in 1998.
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Joshua Phillips, now 41, and his defense team appeared in front of a judge Tuesday morning to give a status update on whether they are ready to set a date for a sentencing review hearing. They’re looking to reduce his sentence of life in prison.
The hearing lasted under four minutes.
“I’ve spoken with the state. We received a bunch of the discovery, I believe it’s the entirety of the information that we were entitled to. We’re going through the review process of that,” Joshua Beard, Defense Attorney for Phillips, said.
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Beard quickly let the judge know he’s still working on some other things that may take some time.
“There are some outstanding things that we are working on that I hope to be able to complete by the end of the year,” Beard said.
Phillips and Maddie were neighbors in the Lakewood area, and her body was found under his waterbed. Phillips was 14 years old at the time of Clifton’s death.
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In 2017, he was resentenced to life in prison for the second time after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling barred mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles found guilty of murder.
Earlier this year, a judge approved a sentencing review hearing for Phillips to move forward.
Back in June, we told you when Phillips’ attorney asked for more time before reviewing his sentence.
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At the time, we spoke with local Defense Attorney Chris Carson, who is not affiliated with this case. He said he doesn’t expect Phillips’ life sentence to change because of the nature of the murder and the national attention it’s received.
“I think the practical reality is it would take some very compelling evidence for a judge to modify the sentence at this point,” Carson said.
Phillips will be back in court for that status hearing on Tuesday, December 16.
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