Union County: Richard Bishop sentenced to death
Last week, a Union County trial court sentenced Richard Bishop to two sentences of death for crimes that occurred in 2018.
In September 2018, Richard Bishop was indicted for two counts of first-degree murder for murders that occurred in February 2018 while Bishop was incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida.1 The State sought the death penalty on both counts.
In February 2024, Bishop pled guilty to both counts and waived a penalty phase jury. The penalty phase proceeded in April.
On September 13, Bishop filed a motion to withdraw his pleas, which the court denied.
On September 16, the trial court sentencing Bishop to death on both counts. In the Sentencing Order, the trial court found the following aggravation and assigned the noted weight:
The capital felony was committed by a person previously convicted of a felon and under sentence of imprisonment (very great weight).
The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person (very great weight).
The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel (very great weight).
The capital felon was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification (very great weight).
As to mitigation, the trial court determined that none of the three statutory mitigating circumstances were proven. As to the nonstatutory mitigation, the trial court found the following and assigned the noted weight:
Generational trauma (some weight);
Neglected as a child (little weight);
Physically abused as a child (little weight);
Sexually abused as a child (great weight);
10/10 adverse childhood experiences (some weight);
Care for the community and family (some weight);
Waived a jury (little weight);
Courtroom behavior (little weight); and
Mercy (little weight).
The trial court determined that death was appropriate on both counts. The full Sentencing Order can be downloaded here.