The right to a jury trial “required Florida to base Timothy Hurst’s death sentence on a jury’s verdict, not a judge’s factfinding”, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote.
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The judge used the jury’s vote to sentence Hurst to death, but the Supreme Court ruled that the recommendation system takes away authority that should rest with jurors alone.
The 8-to-1 decision in the Hurst v. Florida case is a temporary victory for Timothy Lee Hurst, who was convicted in 2000 of the 1998 murder of Cynthia Lee Harrison, his co-worker at Popeye’s restaurant in Escambia County.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida’s death penalty process Tuesday in a ruling that will have a historical impact on death penalty cases past and present.
“Our Legislature has repeatedly been warned by the Florida Supreme Court, legislators who had proposed corrective legislation, and advocates like the ACLU that the sentencing structure in Florida, by which a unanimous jury recommendation is required for guilt, but only a simple majority can recommend a sentence of death, is unconstitutional”, said Howard Simon, executive director with the ACLU of Florida.
In a dissent, Justice Samuel Alito said the Florida jury in the Hurst case played a significant role in determining factors necessary to justify a death sentence.
In December, the Death Penalty Information Center said in an annual report that the use of capital punishment in the United States has been reduced by a third compared to 2014.
Coxe says the Supreme Court decision isn’t surprising because the high court already declared in 2002 juries have sole responsibility for deciding the aggravating factors, those case specifics that warrant execution.
Several lawyers familiar with the Hurst case have suggested that Tuesday’s decision could open a floodgate of appeals by Death Row inmates. Even if a case is ordered to go through sentencing again, the verdict- which is determined in the trial phase, not the penalty phase- will likely not be affected.
Florida was just given a rare chance to dramatically influence the debate over whether the nation’s most hardened killers should pay the ultimate price for their crimes. Under the state’s capital-sentencing law, the jury merely renders an “advisory sentence” and does not elaborate upon aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Governor Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and lawmakers are now working to figure out what the high court’s ruling means for the state, and if taxpayers will be on the hook to re-try death row convicts. The study also found requiring unanimity could drop death sentences in Florida by close to 70 percent.
“It may send all cases back because the jurors necessarily might be influenced by the fact they weren’t making the final decision”, said Carson.
“Florida is going to have to change somewhat the scheme we’ve got right now”, he said.
Still, the jury recommended death by a bare majority of 7-5. For one small point, I’ve seen reports today that put the number of inmates on Florida’s death row at 400 but there are, as Sartoris reported, 390 right now. Will the Supreme Court abolish capital punishment?
The death penalty not being an option is only temporary until Florida legislators can draft a new statute.
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But now prosecutors are trying to figure out what will happen to future cases, such as Luis Toledo’s, charged with killing his wife, Yesenia Suarez and her children, Michael and Thalia Otto.
