Justus v. Florida, No. 83-5956
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | MARSHALL |
| Citation | 79 L.Ed.2d 726,465 U.S. 1052,104 S.Ct. 1332 |
| Parties | Buddy Earl JUSTUS v. FLORIDA |
| Docket Number | No. 83-5956 |
| Decision Date | 21 February 1984 |
v.
FLORIDA
Supreme Court of the United States
On petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Florida.
The petition for writ of certiorari is denied.
Justice MARSHALL, with whom Justice BRENNAN joins, dissenting.
Petitioner Justus was sentenced to death through the retroactive application of a statutory aggravating factor in violation of the Federal Constitution's prohibition against ex post facto punishments. U.S. Const., Art. I, § 9, cl. 3; Art. I, § 10, cl. 1. The murder for which petitioner was convicted occurred in 1978. In 1979, Florida added a new aggravating factor to the State's death penalty statute. As a result of the amendment, a judge and jury could for the first time consider during the sentencing stage of trial whether the homicide was "committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretence of moral or legal
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justification." 1979 Fla.Laws 353, § 1 (codified at Fla.Stat. § 921.141(5)(i)). In 1980, petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. In imposing the death penalty, the Florida Circuit Judge relied on two aggravating factors, one of which was the factor added to the Florida death penalty statute after petitioner committed his crime.
In Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 30, 101 S.Ct. 960, 67 L.Ed.2d 17 (1981), this Court held that a change in sentencing procedures violates the Constitution's prohibition on ex post facto punishments "if it is both retrospective and more onerous than the law in effect on the date of the offense." Both the Florida Supreme Court and the State's Attorney General concede that the constitutionality of applying Florida's new aggravating factor to petitioner must be measured by the Weaver test. See Combs v. State, 403 So.2d 418, 421 (Fla.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 984, 102 S.Ct. 2258, 72 L.Ed.2d 862 (1982), quoted in Justus v. State, 438 So.2d 358, 369 (Fla.1983); Brief for Respondent 4.
The State's sole argument is that the application of this new aggravating factor had no detrimental effect on petitioner, and therefore was not onerous under Weaver. See 438 So.2d, at 368. The State's view is that, since premeditation was already an element of first-degree murder, the retroactive application of Florida's new aggravating factor placed no additional burden on petitioner. Indeed, the Florida Supreme Court has taken the peculiar...
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