Osceola County: Todd Zommer resentenced to life
Zommer was resentenced to life in prison (LWOP) without parole on Wednesday following the jury’s recommendation for LWOP in his Hurst resentencing proceeding.
Todd Zommer was resentenced to life in prison (LWOP) without parole on Wednesday following the jury’s recommendation for LWOP in his resentencing proceeding granted after Hurst.1
Background
In 2005, Zommer was indicted on one count of first-degree murder and charged with other crimes.2 At trial, Zommer testified in his own defense.3 Following the guilt phase, the jury convicted Zommer of first-degree murder.4 Following a penalty phase, in December 2007, the jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of 10-2.5 On February 22, 2008, the trial court sentenced Zommer to death.6
On direct appeal, in a decision dated March 11, 2010, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Zommer’s conviction and sentence of death.7 In doing so, the Court denied Zommer’s challenges to the constitutionality of Florida’s capital sentencing laws in place at the time.8 His sentence of death became final on October 4, 2010, when the U.S. Supreme Court denied cert.
In September 2011, Zommer “filed a motion for competency determination and a motion for postconviction relief.”9 After appointing experts to evaluate Zommer and holding an evidentiary hearing, the circuit court determined Zommer was competent to proceed. In his postconviction motion, Zommer presented eight claims:
(1) trial counsel performed ineffectively when they failed to: (a) move for a competency evaluation during trial; and (b) ask the trial court to instruct the jury that he was under the influence of psychotropic drugs during trial; (2) trial counsel performed ineffectively when they failed to adequately present evidence of his extensive drug use before and during the offense; (3) trial counsel performed ineffectively when they failed to rehabilitate Dr. Danziger on redirect examination; (4) cumulative error; (5) section 921.141, Florida Statutes (2005), is facially vague and overbroad in violation of the Eighth Amendment, and trial counsel performed ineffectively to the extent they failed to present this issue; (6) Zommer's Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment could be violated because he may be incompetent at the time of execution; (7) Florida's capital sentencing statute is unconstitutional as applied pursuant to Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002); and (8) Florida's capital sentencing statute is unconstitutional on its face and as applied because it fails to prevent the arbitrary and capricious imposition of the death penalty.
After holding a hearing on claims 1-3 on January 30, 2013, the postconviction court denied all claims. On appeal, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial.10
Zommer also filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus raising the following claims:
(1) Florida's capital sentencing scheme is unconstitutional as applied; (2) Florida's capital sentencing scheme is unconstitutional because it is applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner, and trial and appellate counsel did not adequately raise this issue; (3) cumulative errors deprived him of a fair trial; and (4) he may be incompetent at the time of his execution.
The Florida Supreme Court denied these claims as well.11
In 2017, following Hurst, Zommer was granted a new penalty phase.12
Resentencing
Before trial, Zommer, through his attorneys, challenged Florida’s 2023 capital sentencing scheme and its application to his case. Just before trial started, the trial court ruled that the 2023 capital sentencing scheme would apply to Zommer’s resentencing trial.
Jury selection started April 29. The trial started May 6. Closing arguments were given Wednesday before the jury was sent to deliberate. During deliberations, the jury submitted two questions:
Ultimately, the jury unanimously determined the State proved two of the four aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt and returned a verdict for life.
The full verdict form can be downloaded here. The court then sentenced Zommer to LWOP as required under the 2023 statute.
News Articles
Zommer v. State, 31 So. 3d 733, 79 (Fla. 2010).
Id.
Id. at 740.
Id. at 743.
Id.
Id. at 754.
Id. at 753-54.
Zommer v. State, 160 So. 3d 368, 374 (Fla. 2015).
Id. at 383.
Id. at 384.