2023 in Review
Here's a review of capital punishment in the State of Florida for 2023.
This year was a pivotal year for capital punishment in Florida. Here’s a quick review of the year, which was quite busy. The Legislature passed 2 new laws expanding capital punishment in the State. At least 5 new death sentences were imposed—the highest number in the country.1 At least 6 people were resentenced to life in prison rather than death.2 The State completed 6 executions, and at least 4 people died while on death row.3 As of this post, Florida’s death row population is 285.4
In February, executions restarted in the State of Florida with the execution of Donald Dillbeck on February 23, 2023. It was the first execution in the State since August 2019 and the 100th execution in the State since the death penalty was reinstituted following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Furman v. Georgia (1976). Florida’s full execution list can be found here.
In March 2023, TFDP was born. Thank you for reading. It has been a busy year, and I’m thankful for every person who has visited TFDP.
On April 12, the State conducted the second execution of the year, executing Louis Gaskin on April 12, 2023. (More here.)
On April 20, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into Florida’s new capital sentencing scheme, which lowered the jury vote necessary to impose a sentence of death from 12-0 to 8-4. (More on this law here. TFDP covered the entire legislative process leading to this new statute. You can find the posts in the Archive, here.) Florida now has the lowest standard for imposing a sentence of death in the country.
In May, the State conducted the third execution of the year, executing Darryl Barwick on May 3, 2023. (More here.)
In June, the State conducted the fourth execution of the year, executing Duane Owen on June 15, 2023. (More here.) Owen was the first person to raise a claim of insanity for execution in 10 years.
In July, the Florida Supreme Court got rid of relative culpability review in its decision in Cruz v. State. (More here.)
In August, the State conducted the fifth execution of the year, executing James Barnes on August 3, 2023. (More here.) That same day, Alphonso Cave died in DOC custody on death row. (More here.)
In September, Paul Beasley Johnson, who was awaiting resentencing after Hurst, died in DOC custody on death row. (More here.)
On October 1, Florida’s new capital sex crime law went into effect, making certain sex crimes against children punishable by death. The law includes a unique capital sentencing scheme, which requires that (a) the jury unanimously find two aggravating factors have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and (b) the jury recommend a sentence of death 8-4. (More on this law here. TFDP covered the entire legislative process leading to this new statute. You can find the posts in the Archive, here.)
On October 3, the State conducted the sixth execution of the year, executing Michael D. Zack, III—the last execution in the State this year. It was the State with the second-highest number of executions in the country, following Texas, which conducted eight executions this year.
On October 31, Thomas Pope, who was awaiting resentencing after Hurst, died in DOC custody on death row. (More here.)
On December 14, Lake County prosecutors became the first in the State to confirm they will seek the death penalty under the new capital sex crime statute. (More here.)
On December 19, Eric K. Patrick, who was awaiting resentencing after Hurst, died in DOC custody on death row. (More here.)
Additional Resources
Tampa Bay Times Article
As of December 1, the DPIC Year End Report (available here) reported 5 new death sentences. This does not include death sentences imposed on resentencing.
The number of deaths on death row may not be complete, as I only started tracking them when I started TFDP in March 2023.