Bright v. State
Decision Date | 02 April 2020 |
Docket Number | No. SC17-2244,SC17-2244 |
Parties | Raymond BRIGHT, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Andy Thomas, Public Defender, and A. Victoria Wiggins, Assistant Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Lisa A. Hopkins, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellee
In 2009, Raymond Bright was convicted of the first-degree murders of Derrick King and Randall Brown and sentenced to death for each murder. This Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on direct appeal. Bright v. State (Bright I) , 90 So. 3d 249, 265 (Fla. 2012). In subsequent postconviction proceedings, Bright was granted a new penalty phase proceeding on the basis that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in investigating and presenting mitigating evidence. State v. Bright (Bright II) , 200 So. 3d 710, 736 (Fla. 2016). Bright now appeals from the second penalty phase at which a death sentence was imposed for each murder following jury verdicts unanimously recommending death. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the sentences.
This Court previously set forth the relevant facts in Bright I :
90 So. 3d at 252-54. The jury found Bright guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and ultimately recommended a sentence of death for the murders of King and Brown by a vote of eight to four. Id. at 256. After...
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