As a now-retired DP trial attorney for the New Orleans Public Defenders' Office in the 1980s, I am embarrassed by this verdict. Anything less than a unanimous verdict is obscene, no matter what, but the death penalty is in itself a hideous reminder that human nature is flawed. This statute permitting less-than-unanimous DP verdicts is also flawed and should be legislated out of existence. Why would you impose a death verdict when you are angry that the accused took another human life? God have mercy on his soul, the court system in Florida, which, like the camel nosing under a tent, has invaded the sacredness of life by requiring that a death verdict be less than unanimous. Where does it stop?
As a now-retired DP trial attorney for the New Orleans Public Defenders' Office in the 1980s, I am embarrassed by this verdict. Anything less than a unanimous verdict is obscene, no matter what, but the death penalty is in itself a hideous reminder that human nature is flawed. This statute permitting less-than-unanimous DP verdicts is also flawed and should be legislated out of existence. Why would you impose a death verdict when you are angry that the accused took another human life? God have mercy on his soul, the court system in Florida, which, like the camel nosing under a tent, has invaded the sacredness of life by requiring that a death verdict be less than unanimous. Where does it stop?