Death Penalty Juries Must Be Unanimous: Florida Supreme Court

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Months after the U.S. Supreme Court found Florida’s death penalty sentencing procedure unconstitutional, the Florida Supreme Court has weighed in with its own major change to the law. The state’s highest court says juries must now be unanimous when recommending death.

The Florida Supreme Court’s ruling was issued Friday, Oct. 14 pertaining to two separate cases before the court. It comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found Florida’s sentencing scheme unconstitutional because juries only served an advisory role in recommending death.

State lawmakers recently passed new sentencing guidelines that call for unanimous agreement on juries to at least one aggravating factor before death sentences can be considered. The same piece of legislation also called for at least 10 jurors to recommend the death penalty before it could be handed down. Friday’s state supreme court ruling demands a unanimous jury decision.

“To increase the penalty from a life sentence to a sentence of death, the jury must unanimously find the existence of any aggravating factor, that the aggravating factors are sufficient to warrant a sentence of death, that the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating circumstances, and must unanimously recommend a sentence of death,” Friday’s ruling says.

What the ruling will mean for those currently on Florida’s Death Row is unclear. The ruling, however, does declare the state’s new law requiring 10 jurors to agree on the death penalty unconstitutional.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections, there were 385 people on Death Row as of Friday, Oct. 14. The statistical breakdown is as follows:

• White men – 220
• Black men – 149
• Other males – 12
• White females – 1
• Black females – 2
• Other females – 1

The ruling originates from two cases that were before Florida's Supreme Court. To read the full decisions in those cases can be found on the Florida Supreme Court's website as follows:

• Timothy Hurst vs. State of Florida
• Larry Perry vs. State of Florida

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