Justia Florida Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Frank A. Walls’ motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Walls was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Walls was sentenced to death following a jury’s unanimous recommendation for death. Walls' sentence of death became final in 1995. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Walls’ sentence of death and thus affirmed the denial of Walls’ motion. View "Walls v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Harry Franklin Phillips’ motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Phillips was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Phillips was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of seven to five. Phillips’ sentence of death became final in 1998. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Phillips’ sentence of death and thus affirmed the denial of Phillips’ motion. View "Phillips v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Jason Demetrius Stephens' motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Stephens was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Stephens was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of nine to three. Stephens' sentence became final in 2001. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Stephens' sentence of death. View "Stephens v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Daniel Jon Peterka’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Peterka was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Peterka was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of eight to four. Peterka’s sentence became final in 2000. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Peterka’s sentence of death. View "Peterka v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Marvin Burnett Jones’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Jones was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Jones was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of nine to three. Jones’s sentence of death became final in 1997. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Jones’s sentence of death and thus affirmed the denial of Jones’s motion. View "Jones v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Eric Scott Branch’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Branch was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Branch was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of ten to two. Branch’s sentence of death became final in 1997. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Branch’s sentence of death and thus affirmed the denial of Branch’s motion. View "Branch v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Donald Bradley’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Bradley was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Bradley was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of ten to two. Bradley’s sentence of death became final in 2001. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Bradley’s sentence of death and thus affirmed the denial of Bradley’s motion. View "Bradley v. Jones" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Pressley Bernard Alston’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Alston was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Alston was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of nine to three. Alston’s sentence became final in 1999. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Alston’s sentence of death. View "Alston v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Kayle Barrington Bates’ motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Bates was not entitled to relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Bates was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of nine to three. Bates’ sentence became final in 2000. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Bates' sentence of death. View "Bates v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s order summarily denying Appellant’s successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851.Appellant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and burglary of a dwelling and was sentenced to death. At issue on this appeal was Appellant’s successive motion for postconviction relief in which Appellant argued he was entitled to relief under Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016). The trial court denied relief, concluding that Appellant was not entitled to relief based on the court’s decisions in Asay v. State, 210 So. 3d 1, 22 (Fla. 2016) and Mullens v. State, 197 So. 3d 16, 14 (Fla. 2016). The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) because Appellant waived his right to a penalty phase jury, he was not entitled to Hurst relief; and (2) because Appellant’s sentence became final nearly twenty years before Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002), was decided, his Hurst claim was also foreclosed by Asay. View "Quince v. State" on Justia Law