. If the review is rejected , Sullivan would have few legal options remaining to reduce his sentence . His lawyers are also fighting to get him a new trial . Outside a death-penalty context , the high court has offered little recent guidance on how to treat the youngest of underage criminal defendants . The appellate record for rapists under age 15 is almost nonexistent , say legal experts consulted by CNN . Child legal advocates say many states lack adequate resources to handle young inmates given long sentences , including a lack of proper jailhouse counseling . Few studies have been conducted on the psychological effects on young defendants facing life in prison , said the Equal Justice Institute , which is representing Sullivan in the high court case . `` We have created a forgotten population with a lot of needs , '' said Bryan Stevenson , Sullivan 's lawyer . The crime happened in 1989 , when Sullivan later admitted he and two friends ransacked a home in West Pensacola . But he denied the prosecutor 's claim he returned with a knife and sexually assaulted the elderly homeowner . An older co-defendant claimed Sullivan was
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- At 33 , Joe Sullivan is serving a life term without the possibility of parole in a Florida prison while confined to a wheelchair . Joe Sullivan , now 33 , was convicted of burglary and rape when he was 13 . He is serving a life sentence without parole . The crime for which he was convicted was brutal : burglary and the rape of a 72-year-old woman in Pensacola . The man 's lawyers say the punishment was equally harsh , particularly for someone with Sullivan 's circumstances . He was 13 at the time , and is one of only two people his age in the world , say his supporters , tried as an adult and sentenced to `` die in prison '' for a crime that was n't a homicide . Now the Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether that sentence was cruel and unusual punishment for someone who was barely a teenager at the time of his crime . The justices are scheduled to announce Monday whether they will accept the case for review . If they do , oral arguments would be held in the fall