Nearing the end.
An update on pending capital punishment legislation, which is likely headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis's desk this week. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for Gaskin's execution tonight.
Today’s updates:
An update on the capital punishment legislation pending in the Florida Legislature, which is at the final stage of the legislative process;
Update on Hurst resentencing proceedings;1 and
Louis Gaskin’s final claims were denied at ~3:00 p.m. yesterday ahead of his execution scheduled tonight at 6:00 p.m.
TL;DR: The end is near on both the legislative process and the fight to stop Gaskin’s execution.
Legislative Updates
Senate Rules Committee Hearing Yesterday
Yesterday, the Senate Rules Committee heard the Senate’s capital sex crime bill at its last committee stop.
In presenting the bill, Senator Jonathan Martin explained that the U.S. Supreme Court has left the imposition of the death penalty to the state’s discretion and states “can impose death within constitutional boundaries.” That is correct.
But he continued: “This bill creates those constitutional boundaries.” That’s not how it works. It defies the purpose of the court’s role in our system of government for states to redefine constitutional boundaries where the courts have already spoken on the issue.2 This legislation is outside the constitutional boundaries of capital punishment, as the USSC explained in Kennedy v. Louisiana.3
As in the past, Florida Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL) testified in opposition to the bill. In part, the testimony included the point that creating new capital crimes will create the need for more capital defense lawyers and the corollary that there will be a positive fiscal effect to this legislation. He also explained that the purpose of this bill is vengeance, which has no place in the criminal justice system: “Courtrooms must be a place for justice, not vengeance.”
Senator Lauren Book (D) spoke in support of the bill. “We’re talking about sex with young children. There is no coming back from that. These are hardwire issues you cannot fix. No amount of prison time is going to make that better for anyone.”
She argued that it would be better if she knew these defendants didn’t get out of prison ever. It was a bit confusing where she was coming from because the alternative to death here is life in prison without parole.
Senator Dennis Baxley (R) made comments that seemed disconnected from what the bill is. His point was that children needed to be held accountable, suggesting that this bill imposes the death penalty for juvenile offenders. That’s not what the bill is. That has also been held unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.
A video of the hearing can be found here.
The Committee passed the bill unanimously.
Last-Minute Amendments Filed
Yesterday afternoon, several amendments were filed to the pending legislation.
SB 450 - Capital Sentencing
The original post on this legislation can be found here.
SB 450 has already passed the Senate. The House is expected to vote on SB 450 in place of HB 555 on Thursday.
Here are the amendments to SB 450 filed yesterday:
An amendment to the tile of the bill and adding that section 913.13 is repealed.
An amendment changing the required jury vote from 8-4 to 10-2 and changing “may” to “shall” with respect to the judge’s action after the jury recommends death:
NOTE: The text of the amendment shows the changes from the current statute. The changes I referenced above are from the current bill language.
An amendment proposing that if the jury does not unanimously recommend death, the “court shall order a new trial as to sentencing.” If the second jury “fails to reach a unanimous decision,” then the sentence shall be life imprisonment without parole (LWOP).
An amendment deleting three aggravating factors from the capital sentencing scheme—seemingly those that are automatic aggravating factors
An amendment repealing section 921.142
An amendment creating a new procedure for capital defendants who plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of LWOP
These amendments can be found here.
HB 1297 - Capital Sex Crimes
The original post on this legislation can be found here.
A strike-all amendment was filed that presents two alternative punishments for the crimes at issue in this legislation: “a sentence of administration of medroxyprogrestrone acetate or life imprisonment.” The amendment then provides a sentencing proceeding for imposing a sentence of administration of medroxyprogrestrone acetate.
The amendment can be found here.
Next Steps
Capital Sentencing
As mentioned above, SB 450 has already passed the Senate. The House is scheduled to hear the bill tomorrow. If the House approves the bill tomorrow in the same form, it will go to the Governor.
Capital Sex Crimes
The House is also scheduled to hear HB 1297 on Thursday. If passed, the bill will have to wait for Senate approval of SB 1342 before the legislation goes to the Governor.
Hurst Resentencing Updates
The resentencing of two men on Florida’s death row began this week for murders that occurred in 2004, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter were both sentenced to death in 2006 for the crimes and received a new penalty phase based on Hurst.
Victorino and Hunter were two of four defendants prosecuted for the crimes. The other two were sentenced to LWOP.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported the original jury votes in each case as follows:
Jurors recommended death for Victorino by a vote of 10-2 for Belanger's murder; 10-2 for Ayo-Roman's; 9-3 for Gonzalez's; and 7-5 for Gleason's. They recommended life for the murders of Nathan and Vega. Jurors recommended Hunter get a death sentence for Gleason's murder by a vote of 10-2; for Gonzalez's murder by a vote of 9-3; for Nathan's by a vote of 10-2; and for Vega's by 9-3.
Louis Gaskin Execution Scheduled Tonight
Gaskin’s attorneys filed their reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) on Monday.
covered Gaskin's arguments at the USSC in this article:
Yesterday afternoon, the USSC denied Louis Gaskin’s final claims in a two-sentence Order.
There were no dissents.
The execution is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. tonight.
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the execution process.