No dismissal from Florida Supreme Court in Gonzalez
Gonzalez's petition is one of three pending at the Florida Supreme Court presenting questions related to the applicability of Florida's new capital sentencing scheme to his Hurst resentencing.
Long-story short, there’s been a lot of confusion on who wants what when it comes to three petitions pending at the Florida Supreme Court regarding the applicability of Florida’s new capital sentencing statute to Hurst resentencing proceedings that were pending when the new statute was enacted on April 20.1 Both sides have changed positions at least once as to whether the Court should keep the petitions and issue a decision on the issues presented or wait until after the resentencing proceedings conclude.
Prior TFDP coverage on this litigation:
Florida Supreme Court stays two Hurst resentencing proceedings in Wakulla County
State takes opposing positions on whether the Florida Supreme Court should review new statute.
State changes its mind on dismissal in case pending at Florida Supreme Court.
Here’s the latest update…
Yesterday, the Florida Supreme Court issued an Order striking the Motion to Dismiss filed by the Solicitor General’s Office in Gonzalez and granting Gonzalez’s motion to amend the petition, to which the State did not respond. Per the Order, Gonzalez has until July 31 to file the amended petition, and the State has until August 9 to file its response to the amended petition. Gonzalez can then “file a reply on or before August 14, 2023.”
Seemingly related to the change in attorneys between the State’s conflicting filings, the Order further says: “Any filings on behalf of the State must include all attorneys listed as counsel for this case.”
Lastly, the Order denies Gonzalez’s motion for voluntary dismissal, which was filed before Gonzalez’s motion to amend the petition, as moot in light of the Court granting the motion to amend.
For the moment, the dismissal confusion in Hertz and Looney remains unaddressed—the other two cases pending at the Court in which the petitions present similar issues. Stay tuned.