St. Lucie County: Jury recommends death for Eriese Tisdale

Following the new penalty phase, the jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of 9-3.

Eriese Tisdale was originally sentenced to death for killing a law enforcement officer in 2013. Following the original penalty phase, in October 2015, the jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3.

It wasn’t until January 2016 that the trial court sentenced Tisdale to death—three days after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Hurst. On direct appeal in 2018, Tisdale was granted a new penalty phase in light of Hurst.¹

Photo of the St. Lucie County courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida circa 1940, downloaded from Florida Memory, a Project of the State Library and Archives of Florida

Tisdale’s new penalty phase proceeded this month—almost six years after the Florida Supreme Court granted Tisdale Hurst relief. According to news reports, following the new penalty phase, the jury recommended a sentence of death by a vote of 9-3. The verdict form is not yet available on the docket.

Under Florida’s 2023 capital sentencing statute, the trial court has the discretion to impose a sentence of LWOP rather than death despite the jury’s recommendation. The docket does not reflect when sentencing is scheduled.

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• WPTV²

1. For a full explanation of Hurst, see the five-part TFDP series available here.

2. Note that the headline in this article is misleading. Tisdale has not been resentenced.