Capital Sentencing Legislation Updates; Litigation Updates

A lot to catch up on and it's only been a day...

• The Senate approved legislation that would change the jury vote needed to recommend a sentence of death from 12-0 to 8-4. The House Judiciary Committee will hear its companion bill at a hearing this morning beginning at 8:00 a.m.

• Amendment filed to pending legislation that would expand capital punishment to child sex battery.

• A Palm Beach County jury determined Larry Darnell Young is not guilty of first-degree murder and, therefore, not subject to death.

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Capital Sentencing Legislation

The original post on this legislation can be found here. Essentially, bills pending in both the House and the Senate would lower the jury vote required to recommend a sentence of death from 12-0 to 8-4.

Senate Approves 8-4

On Thursday, the Senate reconvened and discussed the pending capital sentencing legislation that would reduce the jury vote required to recommend a sentence of death from 12-0 to 8-4. A video of the hearing can be found here.

Senator Bobby Powell entered his vote later, so the final vote was 29-11. The original vote was 29-10.

House Hearing at 8:00 a.m.

The House Judiciary Committee will hear its companion bill (HB 555) at a hearing beginning at 8:00 a.m. as well as its bill seeking to expand capital punishment to child sexual battery. The original post on this legislation can be found here.

Amendment to Capital Sexual Battery Legislation

On Thursday, Representative Baker filed an amendment to the pending legislation that would expand capital punishment to child sexual battery crimes. (I will review and post more on the amendment later—especially if it passes today.)

Verdict in Larry Darnell Young Case (Palm Beach County)

Larry Darnell Young was charged with first-degree murder for the death of Tamia Johnson in 2021. The State sought the death penalty against him. A jury returned a verdict this week finding him guilty of the lesser-included offense, manslaughter. As a result, Young will not face the death penalty.

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