Julie DelegalThe U.S. Supreme Court last week struck down Florida’s death penalty sentencing system, declaring that it violates defendants’ Sixth Amendment Rights to trial by jury.
Hurst v. Florida is expected to prompt death penalty litigation by many death row inmates who were sentenced under the unconstitutional procedure.
About 80 percent of the state’s death row inmates were sentenced to be executed after split, majority-only juries recommended that the trial judges impose the death penalty.
In death penalty cases in Florida, after a first-degree murder defendant is found guilty, a separate fact-finding analysis occurs to determine whether the sentence can exceed life in prison. Aggravating and mitigating factors in the case are weighed during this penalty phase.
The Supreme Court said that the constitution requires juries, not judges, to make the factual findings necessary to send a convicted murderer to death row.
The Hurst ruling is good news and bad news for Darlene Farah, whose daughter, Shelby, was murdered at a Metro PCS store on Jacksonville’s north side in 2013.
“I’m glad because, you know, I don’t believe in the death penalty,” said Farah, who acknowledged that many death row inmates might be resentenced instead to life in prison. Her beliefs, she said, have nothing to do with feeling sorry for people who commit horrific crimes.
But “who are we to set a date on somebody’s life?”
James Xavier Rhodes, 23, is accused of murdering Farah’s daughter, Shelby, during a robbery of a Metro PCS store she managed. His trial is set for May 2.
Rhodes offered to plead guilty nearly two years ago in exchange for a sentence of life without parole. The State Attorney’s Office has refused to take the plea, despite Farah’s urging, and continues to seek capital punishment for Rhodes.
Farah differs sharply with the State Attorney’s decision to pursue the death penalty. She says that the aggravating factors in Rhodes’ case, namely his extensive record as a juvenile offender, can be viewed instead as mitigating factors.
“Common sense tells you he was angry. Why didn’t the state give him the help he needed?”
While she acknowledges that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hurst is a victory for death penalty opponents like her, Farah fears that the decision could further prolong court proceedings in her daughter’s murder case. The Farah family has already waited two-and-a-half years.
“In our case, it’s like oh, God, not another delay.”
She’s not wrong. In light of the Hurst decision, while capital punishment may still be viable in Florida, there is no constitutional procedure for sentencing a convicted murderer to death. The Legislature will have to act to repair Florida’s sentencing laws, and it’s unclear what will occur in Rhodes’ case in the meantime.
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Julie Delegal, a University of Florida alumna, is a contributor for Folio Weekly, Jacksonville’s alternative weekly, and writes for the family business, Delegal Law Offices. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
