A recent Florida law will have an impact on high-profile death penalty cases in Northeast Florida, as it now becomes easier to sentence someone to death.
According to Action News Jax, both the general counsel of the 4th Judicial Circuit and State Attorney Melissa Nelson's office have confirmed their intention to apply the new law to pending cases, even if the alleged crime took place before the law was changed.
One of the first test cases in Duval County could be Mario Fernandez Saldana, the man accused of coordinating the murder of Jared Bridegan in February 2022.
David Chapman, the Communications Director for Nelson's office, stated via email, "The death penalty legislation recently signed into law by Governor DeSantis applies to any capital case currently pending in Florida's criminal justice system. We intend to proceed accordingly."
Although the law does not explicitly address retroactivity, Governor Ron DeSantis expressed agreement with applying the new standard to pending cases during an interview with Action News Jax, stating, "I think it does cause it's a procedural change and usually procedural changes are fine."
However, Ernest Chang, a death-certified attorney and President of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, argued that lowering the standard for imposing a death sentence is more than just a procedural change. He stated, "I'd argue putting somebody to death with a vote is a pretty substantive change in the law."
Chang added that procedural changes generally benefit the defendant and only apply to active cases, which is not the case in this situation. He criticized the decision to change the rules in the middle of the game, describing it as completely wrong.
Lowering the threshold for jury death sentence recommendations is already a constitutional grey area, and both DeSantis and Chang anticipate that it will be a topic of debate in the courts for years to come.
While the legislation aimed to increase the number of death sentences, Richard Dieter from the Death Penalty Information Center cautioned against rushing to test the new law on pending cases. He believes that doing so will make it even more likely for death sentences to be overturned on appeal. Dieter explained, "Most people who get the death penalty, and this is true in Florida, it is true around the country, are not executed. Their cases are overturned. It's more likely that your case will be overturned, and you'll end up with a life sentence anyhow, and this makes that more likely I think. There are more appealable issues now."
Florida stands out as the only state that requires only eight out of twelve jurors to impose a death sentence. Alabama is the only other state that does not require unanimity, but in that state, ten out of twelve jurors must agree that death is warranted.