Deceased: Thomas Pope

DOC records show that Thomas Pope died Tuesday after over 40 years on Florida's death row.

According to Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) records, Florida death row prisoner Thomas Pope died Tuesday while in DOC custody after serving over 40 years on death row.

Pope was 74 years old at the time of his death. He was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in January 1981.

The cause of Pope’s death is unclear. State policy requires that an autopsy be performed for all deaths; however, those records would only be accessible through a public records request.

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Background on Pope’s Sentence of Death

Pope was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder for crimes that occurred in 1981. The jury recommended two sentences of life and one sentence of death.¹ The jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3.² On direct appeal, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Pope’s sentence of death.

In 1986, the Florida Supreme Court denied Pope’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.³ In 1990, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Pope’s postconviction claims.⁴ In 1997, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Pope’s postconviction claims.⁵

Pope then sought relief in federal court. The federal district court “granted in part [Pope’s] federal application for writ of habeas corpus, finding that trial counsel was ineffective during the penalty phase of the trial by failing to develop and present substantial mitigating evidence to the jury, and by failing to object to the prosecutor's closing argument to the jury that Pope preferred a death sentence over life imprisonment. The district court rejected the remainder of Pope's petition, holding, among other things, that trial counsel was not ineffective during the guilt phase of the trial.”⁶ On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed “the district court's denial of habeas relief as to Pope's guilt-phase ineffectiveness claims, . . . vacate[d] the district court's grant of habeas relief concerning Pope's penalty-phase ineffectiveness claims, and remand[ed] for the district court to hold an evidentiary hearing on those claims.”⁷

The case went back to the federal district court. On remand, the district court granted Pope’s petition in part. Pope’s main claim was that he was “entitled to resentencing because his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance during the penalty phase.”⁸ On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s decision, holding: “Based on thorough review of the entire record presented to the state court, we reverse because Pope has not shown that the Florida Supreme Court's decision rejecting his Sixth Amendment claims was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court law.”⁹

In 2018, the Florida Supreme Court denied Pope relief under Hurst because his sentence became final before Ring v. Arizona.¹⁰

Recent Articles About Pope

• Sun Sentinel (Oct. 2022)

• Sun Sentinel (Feb. 2023)

1. Pope v. State, 441 So. 2d 1073, 1075 (Fla. 1983).

2. Pope v. State, 237 So. 3d 926, 926 (Fla. 2018).

3. Pope v. Wainwright, 496 So. 2d 798 (Fla. 1986).

4. Pope v. State, 569 So. 2d 1241 (Fla. 1990).

5. Pope v. State, 702 So. 2d 221 (Fla. 1997).

6. Pope v. Sec’y for Dep’t of Corrs., 680 F.3d 1271, 1277 (11th Cir. 2012).

7. Id.

8. Pope v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corrs., 752 F.3d 1254, 1256 (11th Cir. 2014).

9. Id.

10. Pope, 237 So. 3d 926. For a full explanation of Hurst, see the five-part TFDP series available here.