I thought I heard JP say in the last few days that a 6-6 vote would also result in a recommendation of the DP.
Did anyone else hear that or was I dreaming?
I don't recall him saying that but if he did he was wrong, surprise, surprise!
Here is part of a recent article about a young man sentenced to death last month in Flagler Co. for double murder. Explains a bit about the dp decision.
snip
The jury voted 7 to 5 to recommend Gregory be executed.
Had one more juror voted against death penalty the 6 to 6 tie would have been a life recommendation. And it's very unlikely a judge would have gone against the jury's recommendation.
About six years ago, the state Supreme Court asked the Legislature to give juries a greater role in death-penalty decisions by requiring, for example, a unanimous jury vote for a death recommendation. But lawmakers and prosecutors said they did not want the change.
One of the arguments opponents made was that one person should not be able to block the application of the death penalty, Batey said.
But one person can block a guilty verdict, Batey pointed out.
Batey quoted a document that said
Florida is the only state that allows a jury to recommend a death sentence by a "mere majority vote."
"The bottom line is that if there is something wrong with the Florida statute (regarding death recommendations by jury) the U.S. Supreme Court is going to have to be the one to say it," Batey said
interesting article-more here
http://www.news-journalonline.com/n...entence-starts-whirlwind-of-legal-action.html