Case Title: Mark A. Twilegar v. State of Florida

Citation: 

Docket Number: SC17-839

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 2017-11-02T00:00:00Z

Document:
Supreme Court of Florida 
 
 
____________ 
 
No. SC17-839 
____________ 
 
 
MARK A. TWILEGAR,  
Appellant, 
 
vs. 
 
STATE OF FLORIDA,  
Appellee. 
 
[November 2, 2017] 
 
PER CURIAM. 
 
Mark A. Twilegar, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the circuit 
court’s order denying his successive motion for postconviction relief filed under 
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 seeking relief from his death sentence 
pursuant to Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 
40 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 2161 (2017).  We have jurisdiction.  See art. 
V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.   
As the circuit court correctly recognized, the Hurst decisions do not apply to 
defendants like Twilegar who waived a penalty phase jury.  See Mullens v. State, 
197 So. 3d 16, 38-40 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 672 (2017); see also 
 
 
- 2 - 
Brant v. State, 197 So. 3d 1051, 1079 (Fla. 2016).  Although Twilegar urges this 
Court to revisit, in light of the Hurst decisions, its prior holding in Twilegar’s 
direct appeal that his waiver was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary, see Twilegar 
v. State, 42 So. 3d 177, 204 (Fla. 2010), cert. denied, 562 U.S. 1225 (2011), that 
argument is without merit.  See Mullens, 197 So. 3d at 39-40 (explaining that a 
defendant “cannot subvert the right to jury factfinding by waiving that right and 
then suggesting that a subsequent development in the law has fundamentally 
undermined his sentence”).  Accordingly, we affirm the circuit court’s denial. 
 
It is so ordered.  
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANADY, POLSTON, 
and LAWSON, JJ., concur. 
 
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, 
IF FILED, DETERMINED. 
 
An Appeal from the Circuit Court in and for Lee County,  
Ramiro Mañalich, Judge - Case No. 362003CF002151000ACH 
 
Neal Dupree, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, Suzanne Myers Keffer, Chief 
Assistant, and Scott Gavin, Staff Attorney, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, 
Southern Region, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 
 
 
for Appellant 
 
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, and Timothy A. 
Freeland, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, Florida, 
 
 
for Appellee