Opinion ID: 1920803
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Claim III: Roper

Text: Hill's third claim is that his mental and emotional age places him in the category of persons for whom it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty under Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005). This claim is without merit. Roper does not apply to Hill. Hill was twenty-three years old when he committed the crimes at issue. Roper only prohibits the execution of those defendants whose chronological age is below eighteen. See 125 S.Ct. at 1197-98 (recognizing that the rule prohibiting the death penalty for juveniles was necessary even though the mental and emotional differences separating juveniles from adults may not disappear when an individual turns 18), see also Rodriguez v. State, 919 So.2d 1252, 1265-67 (Fla. 2005) (affirming the trial court's denial of a motion for postconviction relief even though a mental health expert testified that the defendant's mental age was seven years).