Bay County jury recommends death by vote of 10-2 for Michael Hunt

A Bay County jury recommended (by a vote of 10-2) that Michael Hunt be sentenced to death for a murder that occurred in 2017.

Michael Hunt was tried this month in Bay County for crimes that occurred in 2019.

Ahead of the trial, after Gov. DeSantis signed Florida’s new capital sentencing statute in April 2023, Hunt’s attorneys filed constitutional objections to the new statute. The State filed a Motion to apply the new statute to Hunt’s trial.

On September 1, shortly before the trial started, the Court ruled that the 8-4 statute applies to Hunt’s case. The Court’s Order relied on the Fifth DCA’s order in Victorino and Hunter directing that the new statute should apply in those cases. (More on that decision here.)

Following the guilt phase, on September 13, the jury convicted Hunt of one count of first-degree murder.

Jury verdict form for Count I

After the penalty phase, the jury determined unanimously that the State provided all five aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt:

• Hunt “was previously convicted of . . . a felony involving the use or threat of violence to another person.”

• Hunt committed the murder while he “was engaged or an accomplice in the commission of, an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit a Burglary.”

• Hunt committed the murder “to disrupt or hinder the lawful exercise of any governmental function or the enforcement of laws.”

• The murder “was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.”

• The murder “was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner, without any pretense of moral or legal justification.”

Following these findings, the jury recommended by a vote of 10-2 that Hunt be sentenced to death for Count I.

Under the 2023 capital sentencing statute, the judge still has the discretion to impose a sentence of life in prison without parole. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 7, 2023.

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