Opinion ID: 1922393
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Bevel's Mental Age

Text: In his next issue on appeal, Bevel argues that the death penalty is an inappropriate penalty for him because his mental age is that of a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old. Specifically, Bevel points to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005), which held that executing individuals who were under the age of eighteen at the time of the capital offense is prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. However, this Court has consistently held that Roper only prohibits the execution of defendants whose chronological age is below eighteen at the time of the crime. Hill v. State, 921 So.2d 579, 584 (Fla.2006); see also Kearse v. State, 969 So.2d 976, 992 (Fla.2007). Because this Court has previously rejected the argument that Roper prohibits the execution of a capital defendant whose mental age at the time of the offense was under eighteen and because the trial court specifically rejected a finding that his mental age was that of a de facto child, Bevel's argument here is without merit.