Opinion ID: 1609154
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Appellant's age, 19, should have been found and weighed in mitigation.

Text: We reject Merck's contention that our decision in Ellis v. State, 622 So.2d 991 (Fla. 1993), is applicable to Merck, who was 19 at the time of this murder. Rather, as we decided in Peek v. State, 395 So.2d 492 (Fla. 1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 964, 101 S.Ct. 2036, 68 L.Ed.2d 342 (1981), the trial court may find or decline to find age as a mitigating factor in respect to a defendant who is 19. In the trial court's sentencing order in this case, the trial court considered but rejected defendant's age as being a mitigating factor. We affirm.