Evans v. State

Here the Supreme Court considered two petitions for writs of prohibition filed in Evans v. State and Rosario v. State. In Evans, the trial court determined that it would death qualify the jury in Evans’ first-degree murder trial and instruct the jury that Evans could receive a death sentence if the jury unanimously made the requisite findings of fact and unanimously recommended a death sentence. In Rosario, the trial court determined that the State was prohibited from seeking the death penalty in a pending prosecution and ordered that the case proceed with a mandatory life maximum penalty. The Fifth District Court of Appeal granted the State’s petition for a writ of prohibition. The Supreme Court denied Evans’ and Rosario’s petitions for writs of prohibition, holding that the trial courts in both cases may proceed with death qualifying juries, as, pursuant to the Court’s holdings in Hurst v. State and Perry v. State, the revised statutory scheme in chapter 2016-13, Laws of Florida, can be applied to pending prosecutions for a jury recommendation of death if twelve jurors unanimously determine that a defendant should be sentenced to death. View "Evans v. State" on Justia Law