Opinion ID: 1891504
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The Constitutionality of Florida's Death Penalty Statute

Text: In his next issue on appeal, Simmons argues that Florida's death penalty statute, section 921.141, Florida Statutes (2003), is unconstitutional under Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002). We have previously addressed this contention on direct appeal and have concluded that there is no basis for declaring Florida's statutory scheme facially unconstitutional. See, e.g., Lawrence v. State, 846 So.2d 440, 451 (Fla. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 952, 124 S.Ct. 394, 157 L.Ed.2d 286 (2003); Butler v. State, 842 So.2d 817, 834 (Fla.2003). Further, in this case, by use of a special interrogatory verdict, the jury expressly and unanimously found all of the aggravating factors later relied upon by the trial court to impose a death sentence. See Ring, 536 U.S. at 609, 122 S.Ct. 2428 (finding that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial precludes a procedure by which a sentencing judge alone and without a jury finds aggravating factors sufficient to invoke the death penalty); see also Everett v. State, 893 So.2d 1278, 1282 (Fla.2004) (rejecting the defendant's Ring claim because the jury unanimously recommended death, and one of the aggravating factors was that the murder was committed during the course of a sexual battery or burglary, crimes of which the jury also found the defendant guilty), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 987, 125 S.Ct. 1865, 161 L.Ed.2d 747 (2005); Caballero v. State, 851 So.2d 655, 663-64 (Fla.2003) (rejecting a Ring claim on direct appeal where one of the aggravating circumstances the judge considered was that the defendant committed the murder during the commission of a burglary and kidnapping).