New law puts death penalty cases under review

Hundreds of cases could be up for review

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Several local death penalty cases are now under review as a result of a new state law that requires juries in death penalty cases to be unanimous.

The new law not only affects cases that have already been adjudicated, but future ones.

In the past, juries in death penalty cases didn’t have to be unanimous when it came to sentencing someone to death, and a judge could go against the jury’s decision. But under the new law, all the jurors have to be on the same page, and they alone have the power to recommend death.

The Florida Supreme Court has thrown out the death sentence for Robert Peterson, who was convicted in 2009 of murdering his stepfather, Roy Andrews, a retired officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Another man who had his death penalty overturned was Paul Durousseau. There will be a hearing Monday in which a new sentencing hearing could be scheduled.

Hundreds of death penalty cases that have not finished going through appeals as of 2002 could now be up for review thanks to the new law.

“Anybody from 2002 until now who received a death sentence without a unanimous number -- like 10-2 -- they’re going to get a chance, according to the most recent opinions of the Supreme Court to come back, and say I deserve a new sentencing hearing,” attorney Gene Nichols said.

That is expected open a floodgate of hundreds of cases across the state that could be up for review.

“You can expect that anybody sitting on death row now, and (if) their case has been handled only within the last 10-15 years, are most likely going to be coming back in order to have a new sentencing hearing,” Nichols said.

Nichols said this creates problems for prosecutors who have to not only find witnesses from cases decades old but also have to deal with grieving families. That's not to mention the problem finding a jury that doesn’t know about the case or conviction.

“A juror who sits on a new sentencing hearing is already going to have that information," Nichols said. "You’re not going to walk into one of these cases and say, 'I don’t know anything about this, and I don’t have any other opinions.' They’re going to have an opinion because they darn well know that individual has already been convicted and sentenced to death once.”

In all six cases in which the death penalties have been overturned, the convictions were upheld. The next question is, what will their new sentences be?


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