US court rejects life sentence for killer of Australian Chris Lane

Chancey Luna, 17, was tried as an adult in the killing of 22-year-old Australian baseballer Chris Lane, but a US appeals court has thrown out his life sentence.

Convicted murderer Chancey Luna (right) is led into Stephens County court to be sentenced in Duncan, Oklahoma, Tuesday, June 16, 2015. Source: AAP

An Oklahoma appeals court has thrown out the life sentence given to a teenager who was convicted of fatally shooting an Australian baseball player three years ago.

Chancey Luna was tried as an adult in the killing of 22-year-old Chris Lane, who was shot while jogging along a road in southwestern Oklahoma.

Luna, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In a court filing, Luna's attorney argued that life-without-parole was an unconstitutional sentence for a juvenile, and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed.

The panel upheld Luna's conviction and ordered a re-sentencing.

Lane, from Melbourne, was about to start his senior year at East Central University in Ada.