Sexton v. State

On direct appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed Appellant's first-degree murder conviction but reversed his sentence of death and remanded this case to the trial court for a new penalty phase. The court held (1) the trial court did not err by denying Appellant the opportunity to cross-examine DNA analysts regarding prior instances of contamination in analyses they conducted in other cases; (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding testimony regarding an attempted auto burglary; (3) any error in admitting the Appellant’s wife’s statement to detectives was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; (4) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing evidence of postmortem injuries; (5) the evidence was sufficient to sustain the first-degree murder conviction; and (6) in light of the nonunanimous jury recommendation to impose a death sentence Appellant was entitled to a new penalty phase under Hurst v. Florida, 577 U.S. __ (2016) and Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). View "Sexton v. State" on Justia Law