Florida Calls Off Execution

In a motion filed Tuesday Jewell writes that the Supreme Court’s January 12th ruling made Florida’s death penalty process unconstitutional. While the Constitution mandates jury-appointed sentences for the accused, Florida state law authorized judges to issue the death penalty, even if the jury recommends otherwise. Now, NPR’s Greg Allen reports, the state Supreme Court justices will have to decide whether the Hurst decision should be applied retroactively to 388 other people currently on Florida’s death row, including Lambrix.

Cary Michael Lambrix, 55, who has spent 31 years on the death row, is slated to be executed February 11.

When the Supreme Court renders a decision that results in a new rule of constitutional law, that finding is supposed to apply retroactively.

Secondly, the Legislature should pass a bill that calls for both a unanimous jury finding of an aggravating factor, and a unanimous jury recommendation before someone can be sentenced to death. Juries play only an advisory role in recommending death in Florida. “That’s what you do when your statute for imposing a death sentence has been rendered unconstitutional”, McClain says.

“We live in a conservative county… that values personal responsibility, which means that people here also value personal accountability”, Florida Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda tells The Christian Science Monitor’s Patrik Jonsson.

Given the extraordinary level of uncertainty, the first thing that should happen is that the Florida Supreme Court should step in to halt all executions while all of the complicated implications of this ruling are determined. That’s the argument Scott Brown from the Attorney General’s office opened with but he didn’t get far.

Attorneys for a condemned inmate in Florida are scheduled to argue that his execution should be delayed after the U.S. Supreme Court found the state’s death penalty system to be unconstitutional. “So I would suspect if there is going to be retroactive application, it’s going to be reducing cases from death to life in prison”. Those are people in Florida now charged with crimes eligible for the death penalty. “All of those cases in the pipeline are going to end up being reversed and life sentences are going to be imposed on them”, he says. Eaton says he understands there are more than 40 cases like that now.

“It’s my opinion that it really casts doubt on the validity of Delaware’s death penalty scheme”, Brendan O’Neill, Delaware’s chief defender, told Delaware Online.

Some justices appeared conflicted about how to apply the Hurst ruling in Florida.

Meanwhile, Florida’s Legislature has started to address the death penalty system.

“By no way is this a 100-percent finished product”, Rep. Carlos Trujillo, chair of the House’s Criminal Justice Subcommittee, said.