STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ-ACOSTA, RESPONDENT
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A twelve-person jury is required in first-degree murder trials unless waived by the defense, even if the state waives the death penalty.
Defense counsel agreed to a six-person jury in exchange for the state waiving the death penalty in a first-degree murder case. The district court cert…
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McDONALD, Justice.
We review Rodriguez-Acosta v. State, 548 So. 2d 248, 249 n. 1 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), in which the district court certified the following question as one of great public importance:
Whether a twelve-person jury is required in a first degree murder case in which the prosecution waives the death penalty?
Id. at 249, n. 1. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. In State v. Griffith, 561 So. 2d 528 (Fla.1990), we answered the certified question with a qualified affirmative and held that, regardless of whether the state seeks the death penalty, a twelve-person jury is required in first-degree murder trials unless waived by the defense. In this case defense counsel’s agreement to trial by a six-person jury in exchange for the state’s waiver of the death penalty constituted an effective and valid waiver of Rodriguez-Acosta’s statutory right to trial by a twelve-person jury.* Griffith. We therefore quash the district court’s decision.
It is so ordered.
EHRLICH, C.J., and SHAW, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur. OVERTON, J., concurs in result only.
*
The following exchange took place on the record.
MR. McDONALD: [Defense Counsel]: For the record, I have discussed the matter with my client. He is willing to go with the six-person jury.
[THE COURT]: Okay. State?
MR. BERK: [Prosecutor]: No problem, Judge. We will waive our right to have a twelve-person jury.
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Blair v. State, 698 So. 2d 1210 (Fla. 1997)…ury and permitted a trial by a six-person jury in a capital case, where the State waives the right to seek the death penalty and the parties stipulate to the smaller jury. See State v. Mustelier, 561 So. 2d 533 (Fla.1990); State v. Rodriguez-Acosta, 561 So. 2d 531 (Fla.1990); State v. Jones, 561 So. 2d 532 (Fla.1990); State v. Enriquez, 572 So. 2d 515 (Fla.1990). In those cases we held that the waiver was effective even if counsel, rather than the defendant personally, waived the twelve-person jury on behalf…
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Jefferson v. State, 571 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…are aware that in other contexts, defendants have been recognized as having the option to waive numerous substantive rights in the criminal justice area, even though waiver is not expressly provided by statute. See, e.g., State v. Rodriguez-Acosta, 561 So. 2d 531 (Fla.1990) (statutory right to trial by twelve-person jury validly waived, and trial by six-person jury substituted therefor in exchange for the state’s waiver of the death penalty); R.F.R. v. State, 558 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (juvenile wai…
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Hamilton v. State, 746 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)…esignations: [I]n other contexts; defendants have been recognized as having the option to waive numerous substantive rights in the criminal justice area, even though waiver is not expressly provided by statute. See, e.g., State v. Rodriguez-Acosta, 561 So. 2d 531 (Fla.1990) (statutory right to trial by twelve-person jury validly waived, and trial by six-person jury substituted therefor in exchange for the state’s waiver of the death penalty); R.F.R. v. State, 558 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (juvenile wai…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Griffith, 561 So. 2d 528 (Fla. 1990)
- Rodriguez-Acosta v. State, 548 So. 2d 248 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)