Opinion ID: 1786306
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: ring and apprendi

Text: In this claim, Bowles reincorporates thirty-five pages of his postconviction motion into his instant brief without further explanation. The sum of these arguments, which are located only in the postconviction motion and not in Bowles' instant brief, are that Florida's death penalty statute violates Ring and Apprendi because: (1) it allows a judge to find an element of capital murder; (2) it does not meet the heightened evidentiary requirements of a death penalty scheme; (3) it does not require charging the aggravators in the indictment; and (4) it does not require a unanimous jury verdict. The postconviction court denied this claim, stating that Ring is not retroactive and citing to over forty cases where this Court has rejected similar claims. Next, the postconviction court denied relief on the basis of Apprendi, citing to seven cases where this Court rejected the same argument made by Bowles here. Finally, the postconviction court rejected Bowles' argument that Ring and Apprendi require a unanimous jury vote, noting that this Court has repeatedly rejected this claim and that the resentencing jury here had in fact returned a unanimous verdict. This Court has repeatedly and explicitly rejected the arguments Bowles asserts. [5] Bowles' conviction and sentence were final when Ring was issued. Additionally, Bowles' claim is meritless since one of the aggravating circumstances found by the trial court in this case was Bowles' prior 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). Accordingly, because this Court has repeatedly rejected the arguments Bowles asserts, we deny relief on this claim.