Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Convicted in Mexico

Neither the United States nor any of the individual states has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Mexico. No American court can alter the conviction or the sentence your brother received in Mexico. I'm not sure what the California lawyer you hired said he could do; is he also licensed in Mexico?

It's hard to say what the penalty might have been for a similar crime in the U.S. In part this is because you haven't said much about the facts of the case, and in part because murder and kidnapping are generally violations of state law and are subject to 50 different sentencing systems.

A 30-year sentence is certainly within the range your brother might have received here. Depending upon the facts, he could have received a life sentence (possibly without the possibility of parole) or even the death penalty.

Re: Convicted in Mexico

Upon a conviction for murder, the sentence is 15 to life for second degree and 25 to life for first degree. If there was a murder in the course of a kidnap, it could fit into a special circumstance, carying the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.

If he got 15 or 25 to life in CA for murder, he would serve all 15 or 25 before even being eligible for parole.

This isn't including enhancements for weapons, etc.