Opinion ID: 2543852
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Weight Given to Jury Verdict

Text: Ault challenges the portion of the trial court's sentencing order in which it stated that it gave great weight to the sentencing recommendation provided by the jury, pursuant to Tedder v. State, 322 So.2d 908 (Fla.1975). We held in Tedder that [a] jury recommendation under our trifurcated death penalty statute should be given great weight. Id. at 910. Ault contends that Tedder was overruled by Ross v. State, 386 So.2d 1191, 1197 (Fla. 1980), in which this Court rejected a trial court's decision to sentence the defendant to death, holding that the trial court had given undue weight to the jury's verdict. However, we find that the trial court in this case applied the correct standard: In Florida, the sentencing scheme requires that, first, the jury weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors and recommend to the court, by a majority vote, whether life or death is the appropriate sentence. Next, the court must independently consider the aggravating and mitigating circumstances and reach its decision on the appropriate penalty, giving great weight to the jury's advisory sentence. Tedder v. State, 322 So.2d 908 (Fla.1975). State v. Coney, 845 So.2d 120, 131 (Fla. 2003) (quoting trial court's order). This standard applies to recommendations of death as well as to recommendations of life in prison. See, e.g., Blackwood v. State, 946 So.2d 960, 975 (Fla.2006). Contrary to Ault's assertions, we did not overrule the great weight standard in Ross. Instead, we found that the trial court applied Tedder incorrectly by summarily following the jury's recommendation without reaching its own independent judgment as to the appropriate sentence. See Ross, 386 So.2d at 1197-98. Because the trial court assigned the correct weight to the jury's verdict in this case, we reject Ault's claim of error.