State Supreme Court To Consider Sentencing In Six Death Row Cases
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - In another sign of the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key part of Florida's death-penalty sentencing system, the state Supreme Court has issued orders allowing six Death Row inmates to file briefs about how the ruling might apply to their cases.
The orders are in cases that had already been scheduled for oral arguments during the first week of February. The orders will allow lawyers for the inmates and the state to file briefs next week about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in advance of the oral arguments.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, found January 12th that Florida's system of imposing death sentences was an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury because it gave too much decision-making power to judges instead of juries.
A key question is whether --- or how --- the ruling might apply to people already sentenced to death.
The state Supreme Court's orders allow briefs to be filed on behalf of Richard Knight, convicted in a Broward County case; Raymond Bright, convicted in a Bay County case; Dontae Morris, convicted in a Hillsborough County case; Jacob John Dougan, convicted in a Duval County case; Michael King, convicted in a Sarasota County case; and Eric Lee Simmons, convicted in a Lake County case, according to court documents.
In a motion filed Friday in the Florida Supreme Court, Morris' attorneys said the breadth of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling was "unanticipated" and that it should apply to Morris' case.
The Florida Supreme Court also will hear similar arguments February 2nd in the case of Cary Michael Lambrix, who is scheduled to be executed February 11th. Lawyers in Attorney General Pam Bondi's office have argued that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling should not affect Lambrix, who has been on Death Row for more than three decades.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.