A Circuit Court jury yesterday heard evidence in the first-ever "extended sentencing" hearing for a criminal the state says should be locked away for life.

The hearing was authorized by a new state law, enacted Oct. 31, which makes juries responsible for deciding if an offender deserves more time behind bars than is normally imposed under criminal statutes.

The defendant is John K. "Patrick" Lorenzo Jr., 33, convicted of second-degree murder last month for shooting to death off-duty Deputy Sheriff Daniel Browne-Sanchez during a botched armed robbery.

Normally, punishment for that crime is life with the possibility of parole, but city prosecutors say Lorenzo is a persistent, multiple criminal offender who should receive life without parole.

Defense lawyer Walter Rodby objected to yesterday's hearing, saying the new law violates Lorenzo's constitutional rights to due process, but he was overruled by Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto.

Prosecutors then began presenting evidence of Lorenzo's previous felony convictions for drug offenses, as well as an alleged attempted escape from Halawa Medium Security Correctional Center in May, after his arrest in the homicide.

In that incident, Lorenzo allegedly scaled a four-story wall adjacent to a recreation yard by using open windows as a ladder to the roof of the building. He then allegedly made his way over two other rooftops and leaped about 40 feet to a grassy area outside the prison perimeter fence.

He broke his leg and several other bones and was captured by guards as he lay in a crumpled heap, calling out for help, according to evidence presented yesterday.

The escape is still under investigation and Lorenzo was never charged with a crime. Prosecuting Attorney Peter Carlisle told Sakamoto that if Lorenzo testifies in the sentencing hearing about the alleged escape attempt, his testimony could not be used as evidence against him if he is later charged with escape.

Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell told the jury that Lorenzo "is a persistent and multiple offender whose extended term of imprisonment is necessary for the protection of the public."

Rodby told jurors in his opening statement that even if they find Lorenzo eligible for parole, statistics from the Hawaii Paroling Authority show that he would not even be considered for release from prison for 28 years, when he would be 61 years old.

That was the average minimum prison term for a person convicted of second-degree murder, Rodby said.

The longest minimum prison term was 40 years behind bars, he said.

He asked members of the jury to grant the Paroling Authority the "discretion" to decide at a later date if the defendant could ever be released from prison.

The jury's decision on Lorenzo's sentence will be considered by Sakamoto along with the findings of a pre-sentence investigation conducted by court personnel. The judge will then hold a final sentencing hearing at a later date.

Under previous Hawai'i law, judges were given the authority to impose extended sentences, but that law was struck down by the Hawai'i Supreme Court earlier this year.

The U.S. Supreme Court also has found similar laws elsewhere around the country unconstitutional.

Another extended sentence given to Lorenzo earlier this year by Sakamoto in a drug case is one of two test cases now pending before the state Intermediate Court of Appeals. Those appeals center on provisions of the new law that allow it to be applied retroactively to defendants who have already received extended sentences.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.