Supreme Court strikes down Florida death sentence process
Last edited Tue Jan 12, 2016, 01:00 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
Florida's sentencing process in death penalty cases violates the constitutional rights of criminal defendants, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, siding with a death row inmate convicted in the 1998 murder of a fried-chicken restaurant manager.
The court's 8-1 decision means inmate Timothy Hurst, 37, could be re-sentenced, potentially avoiding the death penalty. First, the case will return to the Florida Supreme Court to determine whether Hurst's death sentence can be upheld on other grounds.
The ruling's direct impact is largely limited to Florida and does not touch upon the bigger and more divisive question of the constitutionality of the death penalty in general. It could affect other pending cases in the state, which has 390 people on death row.
Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing on behalf of the court's majority, said the right to an impartial jury guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment "required Florida to base Timothy Hurst's death sentence on a jury's verdict, not a judge's fact-finding."
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-deathpenalty-idUSKCN0UQ1VN20160112
US | Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:47am EST
WASHINGTON | BY LAWRENCE HURLEY
EDIT: Story updated at link.
Original Reuters headline: U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of Florida death row inmate
