U.S. justices press Florida over death penalty sentencing
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed concern on Tuesday that Florida gives judges undue sway in determining death sentences at the expense of juries as the court weighed the appeal of a man convicted of murdering a fried-chicken restaurant manager.
Timothy Hurst, 36, described by his lawyers as mentally disabled with "borderline intelligence" and an IQ between 70 and 78, was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of Cynthia Harrison, a manager at a Popeyes restaurant in Pensacola where he worked.
Hurst cut and stabbed Harrison with a box cutter, the jury found. He left her body, bound and gagged, in the freezer and stole about $1,000 from the restaurant. He later spent $300 on rings at a pawn shop.
A majority of the court's nine justices signaled concern about Florida's system for deciding death sentences. Key findings that determined whether Hurst received the death penalty were impermissibly made by a judge rather than a jury, Hurst's lawyers argued as the justices heard arguments in the case.
The Florida procedure violates the right to trial by jury guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment based on a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, his lawyers said. The high court said in that ruling that aggravating factors that are required for a death sentence must be determined by juries, not judges.
Hurst's lawyers also argued the jury must be unanimous when imposing a death sentence. Hurst was sentenced on a 7-5 vote by jurors.
Conservative justices Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia raised concerns about whether judges could set aside a jury's findings on the presence or absence of aggravating factors that might lead to a death sentence.
Questioning Allen Winsor, the state's lawyer, Kennedy said, "You are saying it is possible under Florida law that the jury would not find the existence of an aggravating factor ... but the judge could then proceed to find an aggravating factor and impose the death penalty?"
Winsor conceded such an outcome could occur in theory and would not be consistent with the 2001 Supreme Court ruling. But he said in practice judges do not override jury findings.
The court's liberal justices seemed likely to back Hurst. Some of the conservatives, including Chief Justice John Roberts, appeared more likely to side with Florida.
The Florida Supreme Court last year rejected Hurst's challenge.
There are around 400 people on Florida's death row.
The justices are due to issue a ruling by the end of June.
The case is Hurst v. Florida, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 14-7505.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
