Florida Justices Rebuff Challenges to 8-4 Death Penalty Verdicts

Criminal defendants who sway multiple jurors against sentencing them to death can still be executed, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

In Hunt v. Florida and Jackson v. Florida the justices rebuffed arguments from defendants and a legion of amici against the state’s split-decision law allowing executions when up to four members of a 12-juror-panel reject death, especially for crimes committed before that new voting procedure was enacted.

December oral arguments focused on the fairness of using this new standard, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2023 following a split jury that rejected a death penalty for a school ...