21 February 2017 :

In what was described as an “about-face” after a previous ruling, the Florida Supreme Court ordered 5-2 that death penalty cases can proceed, even with an unconstitutional law still on the books. The order came as the Legislature prepares to address a pair of Florida high court rulings last fall that struck down the state’s most recent death-penalty sentencing scheme as unconstitutional and effectively halted capital cases. In a pair of October rulings, the state court ruled that a new law — passed in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case known as Hurst v. Florida — was unconstitutional because it only required 10 jurors to recommend death “as opposed to the constitutionally required unanimous, 12-member jury.” The October majority opinion in the case of Larry Darnell Perry also found that the new law “cannot be applied to pending prosecutions.” But in a reversal of that decision Monday, the majority ruled that capital cases can move forward, even before lawmakers fix the statute. Monday’s decision in the consolidated cases of Patrick Albert Evans and Juan Rosario came as courts have been split on how to handle cases in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. A Pinellas County judge last fall wanted to move forward with Evans’ trial, while a judge in Rosario’s Orange County case decided that the state could not pursue the death penalty. The majority on Monday decided that the new law can be applied to pending prosecutions — and is constitutional — “if 12 jurors unanimously determine that a defendant should be sentenced to death.” Monday’s opinion may have resolved questions about how the courts can proceed for now, it likely won’t slow down the Legislature’s rush to address the issue early in the session that begins March 7.