Opinion ID: 1697443
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Validity of Death Sentence

Text: The second issue Gamble raises in his habeas petition is that his sentence is invalid under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002). He argues that the State failed to prove at least one aggravator, that the aggravators must be charged in the indictment, that there must be a unanimous jury verdict, and that the jury's mere recommendation of death fails to establish that the sentence was recommended beyond a reasonable doubt. The State counters that Gamble's Apprendi claim is procedurally barred, and has been determined invalid on its merits in Bottoson v. Moore, 833 So.2d 693 (Fla.) cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1070, 123 S.Ct. 662, 154 L.Ed.2d 564 (2002), and King v. Moore, 831 So.2d 143 (Fla.) cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1067, 123 S.Ct. 657, 154 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002). As we have said in other cases,  Ring does not require either notice of the aggravating factors that the State will present at sentencing or a special verdict form indicating the aggravating factors found by the jury. Kormondy v. State, 845 So.2d 41, 54 (Fla.) (citing Bottoson and King ) cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 124 S.Ct. 392, 157 L.Ed.2d 283 (2003). Moreover, in this case the defendant was found guilty by a jury of both first-degree murder and the felony of armed robbery. Thus, there was a statutory aggravator proven to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, Gamble's sentence is not invalid under Apprendi and Ring. As for Gamble's claim that Florida's capital sentencing scheme is unconstitutional, this Court denied a similar claim for relief in Bottoson v. Moore, 833 So.2d 693 (Fla.2002). Because the Apprendi and Ring issues have already been decided adversely to Gamble's position, relief on this claim is denied.