Duval County jury recommends life for Rashaurd Lewis
After deliberating for less than an hour, a Duval County jury recommended Wednesday that Lewis be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Rashaurd Lewis was charged with one count of first-degree murder for crimes that occurred in 2020. Lewis was 19 at the time of the crimes.
In 2023, after Gov. DeSantis signed into law, there was litigation in Lewis’s case about the applicability of the new statute to Lewis’s case. The defense filed several motions challenging the statute on the merits. In an Omnibus Order dated September 29, 2023, the Court denied the defense’s motions.
Trial began on October 20. On Monday, October 23, the State Attorney’s Office issued a press release announcing that a jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder:
The penalty phase began on Tuesday, October 24, and continued into Wednesday, October 25. The case was submitted to the jury at 3:54 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The jury deliberated for less than hour.
The jury recommended a sentence of life in prison without parole (LWOP) by a vote of 10-2.1
A status hearing is set for November 2. Based on the jury’s recommendation, the judge has no choice but to sentence Lewis to LWOP.
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Lewis has another first-degree murder case pending in which the State has not yet noticed its intent to seek the death penalty.
The jury verdict form is not publicly available.