Justia Florida Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Defendant Joshua Lee Altersberger pled guilty to the first-degree murder of Florida Highway Patrol Sergeant Nick Sottile. The jury found two aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt: the murder was committed in a cold calculated, and premeditated manner; and the victim was a law enforcement officer engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties. The trial court followed the jury's recommendation and sentenced Defendant to death. Defendant appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence, holding (1) the trial court did not err in its finding that Sergeant Sottile's murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated; (2) Defendant's plea was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered into; and (3) the death penalty was proportionate in this case. View "Altersberger v. State" on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of the first-degree murder of Officer Donna Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald's body was found in the paint room at Tomoka Correctional Institute (TCI). After Defendant, an inmate at TCI, was apprehended by TCI personnel, Defendant repeated, "I freaked out. I snapped. I killed her." The trial court imposed the sentence of death. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence, holding (1) the trial court properly denied Defendant's motion to suppress his confessions; (2) the trial court did not err in admitting opinion testimony of the medical examiner regarding the sequence of wounds and position of the victim; (3) the trial court's finding of a certain aggravator was in error, but the error was harmless; (5) the death sentence was appropriate; and (6) Florida's death sentencing scheme is not unconstitutional under Ring v. Arizona. View "Hall v. State" on Justia Law

Convicted of first-degree murder for causing the 2007 death of McKinness, Hampton was sentenced to death following the jury’s recommendation by a vote of nine to three. Hampton filed several motions seeking relief based on the allegation that one of the jurors was “under prosecution” at the time of his jury service. The trial court denied the motions. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and the proportionality of the death sentence. View "Hampton v. State of Florida" on Justia Law

Defendant was sentenced to death for a drug-related 1988 murder. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's denial of post-conviction relief based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel during the penalty phase. Counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to investigate, develop, and present available mitigating evidence that would have legally precluded the trial court from overriding the jury's life recommendation. The evidence in question concerned the abuse defendant endured at the hands of his father and the extremely negative influence his father had on his life and that from a young age he witnessed violent acts being committed against his mother and others, including witnessing others being killed. View "Robinson v. State of Florida" on Justia Law

Butler was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of his former girlfriend. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence on direct appeal. Butler filed a motion to vacate his conviction and death sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. The post-conviction court held three evidentiary hearings and denied relief. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed, rejecting claims that appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to file a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court; appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance by abandoning the claim that a witness was incompetent to testify at trial; Florida’s lethal injection protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments; and Butler’s right against cruel and unusual punishment will be violated because he may be incompetent at the time of execution. View "utler v. State of Florida" on Justia Law

Petitioner sought review of the Third District's summary dismissals of his unfair labor practice (ULP) claim. The court concluded that because it found that the actions alleged in petitioner's claim were sufficient to establish a prima facie violation of Florida Statute 447.501, the court concluded that the Third District incorrectly affirmed the Public Employees Relations Commission's dismissal of petitioner's charges; the totality of the circumstances alleged in petitioner's charge were sufficient to demonstrate prima facie evidence that he suffered from an adverse employment action; petitioner's allegations regarding his transfer provided sufficient evidence of adverse employment action to survive summary dismissal; and petitioner sufficiently alleged a causal link between the protected activity and the adverse employment action. View "Koren v. Schl. Bd. of Miami-Dade County, et al." on Justia Law

Raymond Bright was convicted of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder and sentenced to death for the murders. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding (1) sufficient evidence existed in the record for the jury to convict Bright of first-degree premeditated murder; (2) the prosecutor did not improperly comment on Bright's right to remain silent, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Bright's motion for a mistrial; (3) the trial court erred when it found and weighed as two separate aggravating circumstances Bright's prior felony conviction, but the improper double finding of the prior violent felony aggravating circumstance constituted harmless error; (4) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding and affording the aggravating circumstance that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, great weight; and (5) the sentences imposed by the trial court were proportionate. View "Bright v. State" on Justia Law