Ronnie Keith Williams agrees to two sentences of life without parole
On resentencing, Ronnie Keith Williams has agreed to two sentences of life without parole rather than death.
On resentencing granted as a result of Hurst,1 Ronnie Keith Williams has agreed to two consecutive sentences of life without parole.
Background
Ronnie Keith Williams was indicted for one count of first-degree murder in March 1993.2 After convicting Williams, the original jury recommended a sentence of death. However, on direct appeal, the Supreme Court of Florida reversed Williams’ conviction and sentence and remanded for a new trial, holding “whenever a juror becomes unable to continue jury service after guilt phase deliberations have commenced but before a guilt phase verdict is returned, a new guilt phase trial is required.”3
On retrial, another Broward County jury convicted Williams and recommended death by a vote of 10-2.4 The trial judge followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Williams to death.5
After the jury was dismissed, the trial judge informed the parties that he believed that sufficient evidence existed to find the cold, calculated, and premeditated (CCP) aggravator proven beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . At the Spencer hearing, the defense presented no additional evidence, but argued that it would not be proper for the trial judge to consider an aggravator that was never submitted to the jury. The trial court concluded that case law permits a trial court to make findings as to aggravating circumstances where it believes a circumstance has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court further concluded that Apprendi did not apply because the jury had already made a recommendation of death.6
On direct appeal, Williams raised several claims related to the capital sentencing process. The Supreme Court of Florida rejected each claim and affirmed Williams’ conviction and sentence of death.7 His sentence became final in March 2008.
In 2017, after Hurst, the Florida Supreme Court granted Williams a new penalty phase due to the jury’s nonunanimous recommendation for death.8
Recent Proceedings
The docket does not reflect litigation regarding the applicability of Florida’s 2023 capital sentencing scheme to Williams’ resentencing.
Williams’ case was set for trial this week according to court filings. On Monday, according to reporting by the Sun Sentinel, Williams agreed to plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two consecutive sentences of life in prison without parole (LWOP). While he was originally sentenced to only one sentence of death, the Sun Sentinel reported that the victim’s son, with whom the victim was pregnant at the time of the murder, “lived paralyzed for two decades, and his death in 2016 also was ruled a killing, the result of the attack on his mother.”
The hearing on the plea is shown on the docket, but no order or judgment reflecting the sentences has been entered.
According to the Sun Sentinel, the victim’s family is glad to have finality after three decades of litigation.
News Article
Williams v. State, 967 So. 2d 735, 741 (Fla. 2007).
Williams v. State, 792 So. 2d 1207, 1207 (Fla. 2001).
Id. at 746.
Id.
Id. (footnote omitted).
Id. at 767. Justice Pariente concurred with an opinion in which Justice Quince joined.
Williams v. State, 226 So. 3d 758 (Fla. 2017). Justice Lawson concurred specially. Justice Canady concurred in part and dissented in part, in which Justice Polston joined.