Petition filed at Florida Supreme Court challenging Fifth DCA's jurisdiction to weigh in
This morning, Jerone Hunter and Troy Victorino filed a petition challenging the Fifth DCA's decision in their cases related to the applicability of Florida's 8-4 statute.
Background
Earlier this year, a trial judge in Volusia County held that Florida’s prior, unanimity statute applied to Jerone Hunter and Troy Victorino’s case, in which resentencing had started when Gov. DeSantis signed Florida’s 2023 capital sentencing statute.
The State filed an emergency petition in the Fifth District Court of Appeal seeking review of the trial court’s ruling. In May, the Fifth DCA ruled that the trial court’s ruling was inappropriate and Florida’s 2023 statute applied in Hunter and Victorino’s case. (More here.) Following the DCA’s ruling, the trial court issued a mistrial. (More here.)
On September 22, the Fifth DCA issued a written opinion explaining its decision. (More here.)
The Petition
This morning, Hunter and Victorino, through counsel, filed a petition challenging the Fifth DCA's declaration that it had jurisdiction to rule on the State’s petition.
Hunter and Victorino “seek[] a writ from [the Florida Supreme] Court directing the DCA to rescind its claim of jurisdiction over a capital resentencing over which, by definition, it will never have ultimate jurisdiction.” They argue that the DCA’s exercise of jurisdiction below was unconstitutional and in violation of the Florida Supreme “Court’s many precedents making clear its own exclusive jurisdiction over such cases.”
A full copy of the Petition can be downloaded here.