Bill lowering juror threshold for death penalty passes House, heads to DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – The Florida House approved legislation 80-30 that would reduce the number of jurors required to impose the death penalty, sending it to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature. 

The bill, SB 450, mandates that if at least eight jurors determine that a defendant deserves the death penalty, then a recommendation for a death sentence must be made by the jury to the court.

Under the proposed legislation, the requirement for the jury to unanimously find at least one aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt, which makes a defendant eligible for the death penalty, remains in place. 

Additionally, if a jury recommends a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, the court may impose such a sentence.

The bill also upholds the court’s discretion to consider certain factors after receiving a jury’s recommendation of a death sentence. Based on these factors, the court can choose to impose either a death sentence or a sentence of life imprisonment.

House bill sponsor, Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, spoke about how this bill would prevent “activist jurors” from vetoing a death penalty sentence. 

“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,” Jacques said. “To do so would simply be a travesty.”

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, carried the bill in the Senate. 

House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said that the bill would prevent convicted murderers, such as the Parkland school shooter, from being spared by a few jurors.

“If we’re going to have a death penalty for the most heinous crimes, we should have a threshold that makes sense and a 2-1 majority is reasonable both to defendants and victims’ families,” Renner said.

Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby, D-St. Petersburg, expressed concerns with the legislation, arguing against measures that would make the death penalty more easily imposed.

“Florida gets it wrong a lot, we lead the nation in death penalty exonerees,” Goolsby said. “Yet we want to have a lower threshold.”

DeSantis made comments earlier this year signaling his support for lowering the juror threshold required to impose the death penalty.

“One juror should not be able to veto that and I just don’t think justice was served in that case,” DeSantis said.