Hurst v. Florida
Decision Date | 12 January 2016 |
Docket Number | No. 14–7505.,14–7505. |
Citation | Hurst v. Florida, 136 S.Ct. 616, 193 L. Ed. 2d 504, 577 U.S. 92 (2016) |
Parties | Timothy Lee HURST, Petitioner v. FLORIDA. |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Seth P. Waxman, Washington, DC, for Petitioner.
Allen Winsor, Solicitor General, for Respondent.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General of Florida, Carolyn M. Snurkowski, Associate Deputy Attorney General, Carine L. Emplit, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Respondent.
Carolyn M. Snurkowski, Associate Deputy, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General of Florida, Allen Winsor, Solicitor General Counsel of Record, Denise Harle, Rachel Nordby, Osvaldo Vazquez, Deputy Solicitors General, for Respondent.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, David A. Davis, Assistant Public Defender, Mark E. Olive, Law Offices of Mark E. Olive, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, Seth P. Waxman, Catherine M.A. Carroll, David M. Lehn, Francesco Valentini, Wilmer Cutler Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, DC, Eric F. Fletcher, Allison Trzop, Wilmer Cutler Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP, Boston, MA, for Petitioner.
A Florida jury convicted Timothy Lee Hurst of murdering his co-worker, Cynthia Harrison.A penalty-phase jury recommended that Hurst's judge impose a death sentence.Notwithstanding this recommendation, Florida law required the judge to hold a separate hearing and determine whether sufficient aggravating circumstances existed to justify imposing the death penalty.The judge so found and sentenced Hurst to death.
We hold this sentencing scheme unconstitutional.The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death.A jury's mere recommendation is not enough.
On May 2, 1998, Cynthia Harrison's body was discovered in the freezer of the restaurant where she worked—bound, gagged, and stabbed over 60 times.The restaurant safe was unlocked and open, missing hundreds of dollars.The State of Florida charged Harrison's co-worker, Timothy Lee Hurst, with her murder.See819 So.2d 689, 692–694(Fla.2002).
During Hurst's 4–day trial, the State offered substantial forensic evidence linking Hurst to the murder.Witnesses also testified that Hurst announced in advance that he planned to rob the restaurant; that Hurst and Harrison were the only people scheduled to work when Harrison was killed; and that Hurst disposed of blood-stained evidence and used stolen money to purchase shoes and rings.
Hurst responded with an alibi defense.He claimed he never made it to work because his car broke down.Hurst told police that he called the restaurant to let Harrison know he would be late.He said she sounded scared and he could hear another person—presumably the real murderer—whispering in the background.
At the close of Hurst's defense, the judge instructed the jury that it could find Hurst guilty of first-degree murder under two theories: premeditated murder or felony murder for an unlawful killing during a robbery.The jury convicted Hurst of first-degree murder but did not specify which theory it believed.
First-degree murder is a capital felony in Florida.SeeFla. Stat. § 782.04(1)(a)(2010).Under state law, the maximum sentence a capital felon may receive on the basis of the conviction alone is life imprisonment.§ 775.082(1)."A person who has been convicted of a capital felony shall be punished by death" only if an additional sentencing proceeding "results in findings by the court that such person shall be punished by death."Ibid."[O]therwise such person shall be punished by life imprisonment and shall be ineligible for parole."Ibid.
The additional sentencing proceeding Florida employs is a "hybrid" proceeding "in which [a] jury renders an advisory verdict but the judge makes the ultimate sentencing determinations."Ring v. Arizona,536 U.S. 584, 608, n. 6, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556(2002).First, the sentencing judge conducts an evidentiary hearing before a jury.Fla. Stat. § 921.141(1)(2010).Next, the jury renders an "advisory sentence" of life or death without specifying the factual basis of its recommendation.§ 921.141(2)." Notwithstanding the recommendation of a majority of the jury, the court, after weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, shall enter a sentence of life imprisonment or death."§ 921.141(3).If the court imposes death, it must "set forth in writing its findings upon which the sentence of death is based."Ibid.Although the judge must give the jury recommendation "great weight,"Tedder v. State,322 So.2d 908, 910(Fla.1975)(per curiam ), the sentencing order must "reflect the trial judge's independent judgment about the existence of aggravating and mitigating factors,"Blackwelder v. State,851 So.2d 650, 653(Fla.2003)(per curiam ).
Following this procedure, Hurst's jury recommended a death sentence.The judge independently agreed.See819 So.2d, at 694–695.On postconviction review, however, the Florida Supreme Court vacated Hurst's sentence for reasons not relevant to this case.See18 So.3d 975(2009).
At resentencing in 2012, the sentencing judge conducted a new hearing during which Hurst offered mitigating evidence that he was not a "major participant" in the murder because he was at home when it happened.App. 505–507.The sentencing judge instructed the advisory jury that it could recommend a death sentence if it found at least one aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt: that the murder was especially "heinous, atrocious, or cruel" or that it occurred while Hurst was committing a robbery.Id ., at 211–212.The jury recommended death by a vote of 7 to 5.
The sentencing judge then sentenced Hurst to death.In her written order, the judge based the sentence in part on her independent determination that both the heinous-murder and robbery aggravators existed.Id ., at 261–263.She assigned "great weight" to her findings as well as to the jury's recommendation of death.Id ., at 271.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed 4 to 3. 147 So.3d 435(2014).As relevant here, the court rejected Hurst's argument that his sentence violated the Sixth Amendment in light of Ring,536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556.Ring,the court recognized, "held that capital defendants are entitled to a jury determination of any fact on which the legislature conditions an increase in the maximum punishment."147 So.3d, at 445.But the court considered Ring inapplicable in light of this Court's repeated support of Florida's capital sentencing scheme in pre-Ringcases.147 So.3d, at 446–447(citingHildwin v. Florida,490 U.S. 638, 109 S.Ct. 2055, 104 L.Ed.2d 728(1989)(per curiam ));see alsospaziano v. florida,468 u.s. 447, 457–465, 104 S.Ct. 3154, 82 L.Ed.2d 340(1984).Specifically, in Hildwin,this Court held that the Sixth Amendment"does not require that the specific findings authorizing the imposition of the sentence of death be made by the jury."490 U.S., at 640–641, 109 S.Ct. 2055.The Florida court noted that we have "never expressly overruled Hildwin, and did not do so in Ring ."147 So.3d, at 446–447.
Justice Pariente, joined by two colleagues, dissented from this portion of the court's opinion.She reiterated her view that "Ring requires any fact that qualifies a capital defendant for a sentence of death to be found by a jury."Id., at 450(opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part).
We granted certiorari to resolve whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Sixth Amendment in light of Ring . 575 U.S. ––––, 135 S.Ct. 1531, 191 L.Ed.2d 558(2015).We hold that it does, and reverse.
The Sixth Amendment provides: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury...."This right, in conjunction with the Due Process Clause, requires that each element of a crime be proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.Alleyne v. United States,570 U.S. ––––, ––––, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 2156, 186 L.Ed.2d 314(2013).In Apprendi v. New Jersey,530 U.S. 466, 494, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435(2000), this Court held that any fact that "expose[s]the defendant to a greater punishment than that authorized by the jury's guilty verdict" is an "element" that must be submitted to a jury.In the years since Apprendi,we have applied its rule to instances involving plea bargains, Blakely v. Washington,542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403(2004), sentencing guidelines, United States v. Booker,543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621(2005), criminal fines, Southern Union Co. v. United States,567 U.S. ––––, 132 S.Ct. 2344, 183 L.Ed.2d 318(2012), mandatory minimums, Alleyne,570 U.S., at ––––, 133 S.Ct., at 2166 and, in Ring,536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556, capital punishment.
In Ring,we concluded that Arizona's capital sentencing scheme violated Apprendi 's rule because the State allowed a judge to find the facts necessary to sentence a defendant to death.An Arizona jury had convicted Timothy Ring of felony murder.536 U.S., at 591, 122 S.Ct. 2428.Under state law, "Ring could not be sentenced to death, the statutory maximum penalty for first-degree murder, unless further findings were made."Id., at 592, 122 S.Ct. 2428.Specifically, a judge could sentence Ring to death only after independently finding at least one aggravating circumstance.Id., at 592–593, 122 S.Ct. 2428.Ring's judge followed this procedure, found an aggravating circumstance, and sentenced Ring to death.
The Court had little difficulty concluding that " ‘the required finding of an aggravated circumstance exposed Ring to a greater punishment than that authorized by the jury's guilty verdict.’ "Id., at 604, 122 S.Ct. 2428(quotingApprendi,530 U.S., at 494, 120 S.Ct. 2348;alterations omitted).Had Ring's judge not engaged in any factfinding, Ring would have...
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 7-day Trial
-
Hurst v. State
...after the second penalty phase proceeding, that Hurst sought and obtained certiorari review in the United States Supreme Court, and where that Court agreed that portions of Florida's capital sentencing scheme are unconstitutional.
Hurst v. Florida, 136 S.Ct. at 621. II. EFFECT OF HURST V. FLORIDA ON FLORIDA'S CAPITAL SENTENCING The Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve the question of whether Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the Sixth Amendment in light of Ring,“Finally, we do not reach the State's assertion that any error was harmless. This Court normally leaves it to state courts to consider whether an error is harmless, and we see no reason to depart from that pattern here.” Hurst, 136 S.Ct. at 624(citation omitted). This was the same procedure followed in Ring, where the Supreme Court also declined to reach the question of harmless error, but left that question to the state court to pass on in the first instance. 536 U.S. aterror identified by the Supreme Court in this case is structural—that is, error that is per se reversible because it results in a proceeding that is always fundamentally unfair.22 He contends that even if harmless error review is allowed, the Hurst v. Floridaerror cannot be quantified or assessed in a harmless error review in this case because the record is silent as to what any particular juror, much less a unanimous jury, actually found. We conclude that the error that occurred... -
Johnson v. State
...announced a new retroactive constitutional rule that the State had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the mitigating circumstances did not outweigh the aggravating. Johnson concedes that this court has rejected his interpretation of
Hurst, see, Castillo v. State, 135 Nev. 126, 442 P.3d 558 (2019), but urges this court to reconsider the issue without any further analysis. We conclude he has not made a compelling case to overrule that precedent. See Armenta-Carpio v. State,... -
Commonwealth v. Lawlor
...linked or not, and for the reasons stated below, this Court does not find either of the arguments to be persuasive. 15. This Court recognizes that Virginia's capital sentencing statutes do not have an explicit requirement that the jury weigh the mitigating evidence against the aggravating evidence and determine whether the aggravating evidence outweighs the mitigating evidence. Nevertheless, case law addressing whether
Hurstimposes a "beyond a reasonable doubt" requirement in thesentence of death. That determination is ultimately a discretionary judgment, not a factual determination. This point was made by Justice Scalia in his majority opinion in Kansas v Carr, 136 S. Ct. 633 (2016), a decision issued just a week after Hurst. At issue was the question of whether the Eighth Amendment required capital-sentencing courts to affirmatively inform the jury that mitigating circumstances need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The opinion reads in partCourt to the second response to the Defendant's assertions. Because this is a death penalty case, and out of an abundance of caution, the Court will reach the substantive issue raised by Lawlor, i.e., the Defendant's assertion that Hurstrenders Virginia's capital sentencing statutes and procedures unconstitutional. The Court holds this argument to be without merit. This is the subject of the remainder of this Opinion. 3. The Impact of Hurst v Florida on Virginia's Death Penalty Sentencing... -
State v. Hale
...Pursuant to Criminal Rule 33 and R.C. 2953.21." Hale argued that the Ohio death penalty scheme violates the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, based upon the United States Supreme Court's decision in
Hurst v. Florida, 577 U.S. ___, 136, S.Ct. 616, 193 L.Ed.2d 504 (2016), in which the Supreme Court held that Florida's death penalty statute violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial because it required the judge, rather than the jury, toa reasonable time for filing the motion.Accord State v. Mundt, 7th Dist. Noble No. 17 NO 0446, 2017-Ohio-7771, (concluding that a motion for leave to file a motion for a new mitigation trial was untimely where it was filed a year after Hurst, and the defendant did not show that he was unavoidably prevented from filing the argument prior to Hurst with other cases used in support of the claim). {¶ 13} With regard to the substantive merit of the Hurst argument,2017-Ohio-7771, (concluding that a motion for leave to file a motion for a new mitigation trial was untimely where it was filed a year after Hurst, and the defendant did not show that he was unavoidably prevented from filing the argument prior to Hurstwith other cases used in support of the claim). {¶ 13} With regard to the substantive merit of the Hurst argument, we note that in Bryan, this court rejected a Hurst challenge to Ohio's death penalty scheme and stated:Post-Hurst,...
-
The 2019-2020 Term
...Court held that capital defendants "are entitled to a jury determination of any fact on which the legislature conditions an increase in their maximum punishment"—in particular, the finding of an aggravating circumstance. And in Hurst v. Florida,
577 U.S. 92(2016), the Court applied Ring and decided that Florida's capital sentencing scheme impermissibly allowed "a sentencing judge to find an aggravating circumstance, independent of a jury's factfinding, that is necessary for imposition... -
DEMOCRACY'S FORGOTTEN POSSESSIONS: U.S. TERRITORIES' RIGHT TO STATEHOOD THROUGH CONSTITUTIONAL LIQUIDATION.
...political relationship with the United States."). (408) See Janus v. Am. Fed'n of State, Cnty., & Mun. Emps., Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448, 2479 (2018) (noting that "[a]n important factor in determining whether a precedent should be overruled is the quality of its reasoning"). (409) Randy J. Kozel, Stare Decisis in the Second-Best World, 103 CALIF. L. REV. 1139, 1162 (2015). (410) See Hurst v. Florida,
577 U.S. 92, 102 (2016) (quoting Alleyne v. United States, 570... -
2.1 Introduction
...concept of the "triggerman," are initially discussed before addressing the specific subsections of section 18.2-31.--------Notes:[1] Harward v. Commonwealth, 229 Va. 363, 365, 330 S.E.2d 89, 90 (1985).[2] 530 U.S. 466, 476 (2000).[3] Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 589 (2002); see Hurst v. Florida,
136 S. Ct. 616, 620, 622 (2016) ("The maximum punishment . . . Hurst could have received without any judge-made findings was life in prison without... -
The Roles of Sonia Sotomayor in Criminal Justice Cases
...L.J. F. 375, 376–77 (2014). 66 STEPHEN L. WASBY, THE SUPREME COURT IN THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM 214 (3d ed. 1988). 67 134 S. Ct. 405 (2013) (Sotomayor, J., dissenting). 68 Id. at 406. 69 Id. at 408–09. 70 Hurst v. Florida,
136 S. Ct. 616, 624 (2016). 468 CAPITAL UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [45:457 states shared Florida’s approach, the decision was likely to have a limited impact elsewhere, except possibly in “Alabama, another state with a higher-than-average...