Opinion ID: 2537276
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Applicability of Roper v. Simmons

Text: Citing Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005), which held that it is unconstitutional to execute defendants who were under the age of eighteen at the time they committed their crimes, Wade argues that his death sentence is unconstitutional. Admitting that he was eighteen when the Sumners were murdered, Wade contends that age cannot be the sole factor used to separate adults from juveniles for purposes of determining death eligibility. He argues that Roper requires consideration of other factorssuch as immaturity and the influence of othersthat demonstrate he was actually a juvenile at the time of the crimes. We have previously rejected such an alteration of Roper's bright-line rule. See Hill v. State, 921 So.2d 579, 584 (Fla. 2006) ( Roper only prohibits the execution of those defendants whose chronological age is below eighteen.). Accordingly, we hold that Wade is entitled to no relief on this claim.