US Supreme Court finds Florida’s death penalty unconstitutional

Indeed, since the state death penalty law was enacted in 1972, judges have disregarded the jury’s advisory on some 300 occasions, imposing either the harsher penalty of death or the lesser penalty of life.

Justice Samuel Alito was the sole dissenter.

Meanwhile, Cape Canaveral Republican Senator Thad Altman has filed legislation that would require a unanimous jury decision to hand down a death sentence.

The Court also rejected the State of Florida’s contention that sentencing jury recommended a death sentence, it “necessarily included a finding of an aggravating circumstance”.

“Why the State of Florida can’t forgive us for our sins”, asks Herman Lindsey. The Constitution means for “a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death, ” Sotomayor wrote.

Still, the jury recommended death by a bare majority of 7-5.

The United States Supreme Court made a decision Tuesday that will change the State of Florida’s process for sentencing a person to the death penalty.

WESH 2 legal expert Richard Hornsby said anyone sentenced by non-unanimous juries since a similar court ruling in 2002 should have their sentences commuted to life or at least reviewed. “Rather, Florida requires a judge to find these facts”. He said her stabbing death probably took 15 minutes and noted that the judge wrote that “the utter terror and pain that Ms. Harrison likely experienced during the incident is unfathomable.”The courts decision returns Hursts case to lower courts.

Though the judge followed the decision of the majority of jurors in the case, the judge in her written order said she also based her decision in part on her independent determination that the case had some aggravating factors warranting a death sentence.

Under Florida’s system, the jury makes a recommendation to a judge on whether to impose the death sentence.

The capital sentencing scheme in Florida is a hybrid among states that enforce capital punishment.

Hurst, described by his lawyers as mentally disabled with “borderline intelligence” and an IQ between 70 and 78, was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of Cynthia Harrison, a manager at a Popeyes restaurant in Pensacola where he worked.

“Today’s ruling strikes at the heart of Florida’s death penalty statute”, said David Menschel, a criminal-defense attorney who represented Florida death-row defendants and president of the Vital Projects Fund, a nonprofit that works on criminal-justice issues.

The decision came from a review of Hurst v. Florida.

Almost 400 prisoners sit on Florida’s Death row. He said the Florida decision is based on a previous Arizona ruling that was already found not to be retroactive. “In light of this evidence, it defies belief to suggest that the jury would not have found the existence of either aggravating factor if its finding was binding”.

Under Florida law, the judge – not the jury – identifies each reason why a defendant deserves to be executed.

Zeigler’s attorney said Tuesday’s ruling should keep Zeigler from the death chamber and win his freedom.