Florida Capital Sentencing Juries… | Death Penalty Information Center
Posted on Jul 12, 2019
In the span of two weeks, juries in four unrelated cases in which Florida prosecutors had sought the death penalty have instead returned life sentences. The cases—which were considered probable death verdicts if judges were permitted to impose sentence—illustrate the impact of the changes in Florida law in 2016 and 2017 banning judicial death sentences based on non-unanimous jury recommendations for death. Between June 27, 2019 and July 11, 2019, jurors in the cases of Jose Martinez, Karari Ritchie, Christopher Vasata, and Scott Nelson did not unanimously agree on a recommended sentence. As a result, all four cases ended in life sentences.
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And on July 11, Scott Nelson—who told the jury he was “a homicidal maniac” who wanted to be sentenced to death—received a life sentence after an Orange County jury did not reach a unanimous verdict. Defense lawyers presented mitigating evidence of the chronic trauma he experienced in an abusive childhood and the severe cognitive deficits its produced, the extreme conditions to which he was subjected during 25 years in federal prison, and his resulting mental illness. One juror was removed from the jury after some other jurors reported he had said he had seen no evidence in the case justifying a death sentence. Three jurors later reported that a single remaining juror had voted for life.
Posted on Jul 12, 2019
In the span of two weeks, juries in four unrelated cases in which Florida prosecutors had sought the death penalty have instead returned life sentences. The cases—which were considered probable death verdicts if judges were permitted to impose sentence—illustrate the impact of the changes in Florida law in 2016 and 2017 banning judicial death sentences based on non-unanimous jury recommendations for death. Between June 27, 2019 and July 11, 2019, jurors in the cases of Jose Martinez, Karari Ritchie, Christopher Vasata, and Scott Nelson did not unanimously agree on a recommended sentence. As a result, all four cases ended in life sentences.
[...]
And on July 11, Scott Nelson—who told the jury he was “a homicidal maniac” who wanted to be sentenced to death—received a life sentence after an Orange County jury did not reach a unanimous verdict. Defense lawyers presented mitigating evidence of the chronic trauma he experienced in an abusive childhood and the severe cognitive deficits its produced, the extreme conditions to which he was subjected during 25 years in federal prison, and his resulting mental illness. One juror was removed from the jury after some other jurors reported he had said he had seen no evidence in the case justifying a death sentence. Three jurors later reported that a single remaining juror had voted for life.
