IN RE STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS CRIMINAL CASES-NO. 90-1
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The Florida Supreme Court approved a recommended amendment to the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases that revised the instruction on capital sentencing factors. The amendment added clarifying language to explain terms like 'heinous,' 'atrocious,' and 'cruel' and was designed to address constitutional concerns raised in Maynard v. Cartwright.
The court approved the Committee's recommended amendment to the jury instruction. The amended instruction provides specific definitions for 'heinous,' 'atrocious,' and 'cruel' and describes the type of crime intended to be included under these aggravating factors.
[1] A committee on standard jury instructions may propose amendments to existing jury instructions.
[2] The Supreme Court of Florida has the authority to approve amendments to the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The kind of crime intended to be included as heinous, atrocious, or cruel is one accompanied by additional acts that show that the crime was conscienceless or pitiless and was unnecessarily torturous to the victim.”
Establishes the amended instruction's definition of what conduct qualifies as heinous, atrocious, or cruel for capital sentencing purposes
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions (Criminal) submitted a petition recommending an amendment to paragraph 8 on page 79 of the F…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
PER CURIAM.
The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions (Criminal) has submitted a petition which proposes an amendment to the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases. The petition is set forth below:
REPORT (No. 90-1) OF THE COMMITTEE ON STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS (CRIMINAL)
TO THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA:
Your committee on Standard Jury Instructions (Criminal) recommends that The Florida Bar be authorized to publish an amendment to FLORIDA STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES. The amendment changes the wording of paragraph 8 on page 79 of the jury instruction manual as follows:
8. The crime for which the defendant is to be sentenced was especially wicked, evil; heinous, atrocious or cruel. “Heinous” means extremely wicked or shockingly evil. “Atrocious” means outrageously wicked and vile. “Cruel” means designed to inflict a high degree of pain with utter indifference to, or even enjoyment of, the suffering of others. The kind of crime intended to be included as heinous, atrocious, or cruel is one accompanied by additional acts that show that the crime was conscienceless or pitiless and was unnecessarily torturous to the victim.
The committee has decided that the additional language, which is based on State v. Dixon, 283 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1973), improves the instruction and that it adequately addresses any problem the paragraph may present in light of Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356, 108 S.Ct. 1853, 100 L.Ed.2d 372 (1988).
Respectfully submitted,
/s/_
HARRY LEE COE, III Chair
Florida Bar No: 14352 122 Courthouse Annex Tampa, FL 33602 813/228-7964
We approve for publication this recommended amendment.
It is so ordered.
EHRLICH, C.J., and OVERTON, McDonald, shaw, barkett, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (26 total)
-
Tobias Barfield v. State, 594 So. 2d 259 (Fla. 1992)…that the [*261] crimes committed demonstrate a defendant’s involvement in a continuing and persistent pattern of criminal activity.” State v. Jones, 530 So. 2d 53, 56 (Fla.1988); accord State v. Simpson, 554 So. 2d 506 (Fla.1989). In Smith v. State, 579 So. 2d 75 (Fla.1991), although this Court acknowledged that Jones and Simpson approved departure based upon temporal proximity, we disapproved a departure sentence based solely on a persistent pattern of criminal activity, closely related in time, although th…1 / 2
-
In re Standard Jury Instructions IN Crim. Cases-Report NO. 2005-2. In re Standard Jury Instructions In Crim. Cases-Penalty Phase of Cap. Trials, 22 So. 3d 17 (Fla. 2009)…ce in conformity with these instructions,-that form — of—recommendation—should—be signed by your foreperson and returned to the court, Comment This instruction was adopted in 1981 and amended in 1985 [477 So. 2d 985], 1989 [543 So. 2d 1205], 1991 [579 So. 2d 75], 1992 [603 So. 2d 1175], 1994 [639 So. 2d 602], 1995 [665 So. 2d 212], 1996 [678 So. 2d 12241 1997 r690 So. 2d 12631, and 1998 [723 So. 2d 123], and 2009.…
-
In re Standard Jury Instructions IN Crim. Cases- Report NO. 2013-03, 146 So. 3d 1110 (Fla. 2014)…well reasoned recommendation. You will now retire to consider your recommendation as to the penalty to be imposed upon the defendant. Comment This instruction was adopted in 1981 and amended in 1985 [477 So. 2d 985], 1989 [543 So. 2d 1205], 1991 [579 So. 2d 75], 1992 [603 So. 2d 1175], 1994 [639 So. 2d 602], 1995 [665 So. 2d 212], 1996 [678 So. 2d 1224], [*1129] 1997 [690 So. 2d 1268], 1998 [723 So. 2d 123], and 2009 [22 So. 3d 17], and 2014. 11.18 SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY A PSYCHOTHERAPIST § 491.0112, Fla.…
Previewing 3 of 26 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Dixon, 283 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1973)
- Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356 (U.S. 1988)