Blanco v. State

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s orders summarily denying Appellant’s fifth motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and 3.203.Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and armed burglary in 1982. In 1994, following a new penalty phase on resentencing, the jury recommended the death penalty by a vote of ten to two. The Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s death sentence. In 2015, Appellant filed this postconviction motion seeking relief based on Hall v. Florida, 134 S. Ct. 1986 (2014), and Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002). Thereafter, Appellant filed an amended postconviction motion seeking additional relief based on Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016). The circuit court denied relief. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Appellant’s intellectual disability claim was foreclosed by the reasoning of the Supreme Court in Rodriguez v. State, an unpublished order; and (2) Appellant’s Hurst claim was foreclosed by the Court’s decision in Hitchcock v. State, 226 So. 3d 216 (Fla. 2017). View "Blanco v. State" on Justia Law