Analyzing the Hurst resentencing proceedings that remain pending

This post analyzes information related to the ~60 resentencing proceedings granted after Hurst v. Florida in 2016 that remain pending across the State and could be affected by the new legislation.

After Hurst,¹ approximately 150 people on Florida’s death row were granted new penalty phases. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) has almost the full list here.²

As of April 20 when Governor DeSantis signed the new capital sentencing legislation into law, ~90 of those new penalty phases granted after Hurst had been completed. (More on the new law here.) Fifty-seven remain pending.

In those 57 cases where the new penalty phase remains pending, courts will have to determine whether to apply the new statute or continue with Florida’s prior, post-Hurst sentencing scheme. Litigation on these issues has already started.

The DOC death row list shows asterisks next to those on death row whose sentences are under review—i.e., those who are awaiting a resentencing proceeding after Hurst. I analyzed the cases in which resentencing is pending. Below is what I found as to how they’re spread across the state and the jury votes that led to the death sentences that were vacated after Hurst.

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Resentencing Proceedings by Circuit

There are resentencing proceedings pending in 14 of the 20 judicial circuits in the state. The Fourth and Eleventh Circuit are tied for the highest number of pending resentencing proceedings with 10 each. In the Fourth Circuit, the cases are in Clay and Duval Counties. In the Eleventh Circuit, it’s only Miami-Dade County.

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Resentencing Proceedings by County

There are resentencing proceedings pending in 21 Counties. Miami-Dade is at the top with 10 pending resentencing proceedings. Duval is close behind in second with 9 pending resentencing proceedings. Several counties have only 1 pending. Here’s the break down:

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Jury Votes

Here’s the distribution of the pre-Hurst jury votes for death in the 57 cases in which resentencing proceedings are still pending:

*For cases in which there were multiple sentences of death and different jury votes, the highest jury vote for death was included. Also, each case was counted only once. For instance, if a case had one vote of 8-4 and one vote of 7-5, it was counted as one 8-4 case. If a case had two votes of 8-4, it was counted as one 8-4 case. Further, if a defendant received several penalty phases, the jury votes from the most recent penalty phase (the one from which Hurst relief was granted) were used.

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NOTE: I updated this post on May 9, 2023, to fix an error in the original charts.

1. The series on Hurst can be found here.

2. According to DPIC, 147 people were granted relief under Hurst; 169 people were denied relief. A few people were granted relief after DPIC published the list.