Opinion ID: 1684899
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ring and Apprendi Violations with Death Penalty Statute

Text: Overton contends that his sentences of death must be vacated because Florida's capital sentencing scheme is a violation of both Ring and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). The claim is without merit. This Court addressed the contention that Florida's capital sentencing scheme violates the United States Constitution under Apprendi and Ring 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), and denied relief. See also Jones v. State, 845 So.2d 55, 74 (Fla.2003). Overton is likewise not entitled to relief on this claim. Furthermore, one of the aggravating circumstances found by the trial court here was Overton's previous conviction of a violent felony, a factor which under Apprendi and Ring need not be found by the jury. Jones v. State, 855 So.2d 611, 619 (Fla.2003); see also Doorbal v. State, 837 So.2d 940, 963 (Fla.) (rejecting the Ring claim where one of the aggravating circumstances found by the trial judge was defendant's prior conviction for a violent felony), cert. denied, 539 U.S. 962, 123 S.Ct. 2647, 156 L.Ed.2d 663 (2003). Finally, this Court has previously held that Ring and Apprendi cannot receive retroactive application. See Johnson, 904 So.2d at 412 (holding that Ring does not apply retroactively in Florida postconviction proceedings to cases that were final on direct review at the time of the Ring decision); Hughes v. State, 901 So.2d 837, 840 (Fla. 2005) (holding that Apprendi does not apply retroactively in Florida postconviction proceedings to cases that were final on direct review at the time of the Apprendi decision).