The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill that would require only two-thirds of a jury to approve the death penalty instead of the current unanimous verdict.
The state Senate passed its version of the legislation on March 30, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign it.
The push to end unanimous jury consent for death penalty cases in the state began when Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 fellow students in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, 2018, received a life sentence without parole.
The jury had reached a 9-3 deadlock on whether or not Cruz should be executed.
“We all grieve for the families of Parkland and that community. But what that verdict did do was expose a flaw in the current system. If a monster like that, who commits heinous crimes like that, does not deserve and get the death penalty, then what do we have a death penalty for?” state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, 11th District Republican, said shortly before the Florida Senate bill passed.
State Rep. Berny Jacques, Seminole Republican and sponsor of the bill, tweeted Friday: “You simply cannot allow a small handful of activist jurors to derail the full administration of justice when individuals are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and meet the qualifications for the death penalty. To do so would be simply a travesty.”
Both chambers of the Florida legislature are controlled by Republicans.
Assuming Mr. DeSantis signs the legislation, Florida would join Alabama, Indiana and Missouri in not requiring unanimous jury consent for executions.
Indiana and Missouri allow for the judge’s discretion in the event of a divided jury, while Alabama maintains a 10-2 threshold.
Detractors of the bill pointed out how many death row inmates end up being exonerated.
“Florida gets it wrong a lot, we lead the nation in death penalty exonerees. Yet we want to have a lower threshold,” said State Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby, St. Petersburg Democrat.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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