Free Florida Supreme Court case summaries from Justia.
If you are unable to see this message, click here to view it in a web browser. | | Florida Supreme Court November 26, 2020 |
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Click here to remove Verdict from subsequent Justia newsletter(s). | New on Verdict Legal Analysis and Commentary | In (Trial) Courts (Especially) We Trust | VIKRAM DAVID AMAR, JASON MAZZONE | | Illinois law dean Vikram David Amar and professor Jason Mazzone describe the increasing importance of courts and lawyers in safeguarding and reinforcing the role of factual truths in our democracy. Dean Amar and Professor Mazzone point out that lawyers and judges are steeped in factual investigation and factual determination, and they call upon legal educators (like themselves) to continue instilling in students the commitment to analytical reasoning based in factual evidence, and to absolutely reject the notion that factual truth is just in the mind of the beholder. | Read More | The Rhetoric About a “Decline” in Religious Liberty Is Good News for Americans | MARCI A. HAMILTON | | Marci A. Hamilton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the country’s leading church-state scholars, explains why the rhetoric about a “decline” in religious liberty actually signals a decline in religious triumphalism, and is a good thing. Professor Hamilton describes how religious actors wield the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) not as a shield, but as a sword to destroy the lives of fellow Americans. | Read More |
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Florida Supreme Court Opinions | Colley v. State | Docket: SC18-2014 Opinion Date: November 25, 2020 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law | The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's two first-degree murder convictions and two corresponding sentences of death, holding that Defendant's assignments of error were unavailing. Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) the trial court did not err in instructing on and finding the CCP aggravator and the HAC aggravator; (2) the trial court did not err in instructing on and finding the HAC aggravator; (3) Florida’s death penalty statute is constitutional; (4) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting Defendant's two proposed impairment mitigators; (5) the trial court did not err in allowing victim impact evidence; (6) the prosecutor’s penalty phase closing argument did not violate Defendant's constitutional rights; and (7) competent, substantial evidence supported Defendant's first-degree murder convictions. | | State v. Jackson | Docket: SC20-257 Opinion Date: November 25, 2020 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Criminal Law | The Supreme Court denied the State's petition seeking an extraordinary writ that would direct the circuit court to dismiss a resentencing proceeding and reinstate two previously vacated death sentences for the State or, alternatively, a writ of prohibition that would bar the circuit court from conducting the resentencing, holding that Defendant's vacated death sentences cannot be retroactively reinstated. In 2017, Defendant filed a successive postconviction motion seeking relief under Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). The postconviction court granted Defendant a new penalty phase, scheduled to begin in 2020, and the State did not appeal the order granting relief. Before trial, the State filed a motion requesting that the circuit court dismiss the resentencing proceeding and maintain Defendant's sentences of death, seeking to apply the holding in State v. Poole, 297 So. 3d 487 (Fla. 2020), to Defendant's case. The circuit court denied the motion. Thereafter, the State filed its emergency all writs petition and petition for writ of prohibition. The Supreme Court denied relief, holding that a death sentence that was vacated by the postconviction court cannot be "reinstated" if the State never appealed the final order granting relief, the resentencing has not yet taken place, and the Supreme Court has since receded from the decisional law on which the sentence was vacated. | | State v. Okafor | Docket: SC20-323 Opinion Date: November 25, 2020 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Criminal Law | The Supreme Court held that its 2017 judgment vacating on direct appeal Defendant's death sentence is final, that neither the Supreme Court nor the trial court can lawfully reinstate that sentence, and that, therefore, resentencing was required. In 2015, Defendant was sentenced to death for first-degree premeditated murder. In 2017, relying on the then-applicable rule of Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016), the Supreme Court vacated Defendant's death sentence and remanded for a new penalty phase proceeding. In 2020, the Supreme Court decided State v. Poole, 297 So. 3d 487 (Fla. 2020), in which the Court receded from Hurst. Because Defendant would have been constitutionality eligible for a death sentence under the rule of Poole the State asked the trial court to reinstate Defendant's death sentence. The trial court denied the State's motion. Thereafter, the State filed a petition arguing that reinstatement of Defendant's death sentence was required under Poole. The Supreme Court denied the petition, holding that the Court cannot reconsider its judgment vacating Defendant's death sentence and that the trial court also lacked the authority to reconsider the Supreme Court's final judgment vacating Defendant's death sentence. | |
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