RICHARD WALKER, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Richard Walker was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment. He appealed on three grounds: challenging the validity of the McNaghten insanity test, and arguing that Florida's mandatory life sentence for first degree murder violates state constitutional protections against cruel punishment and equal protection guarantees when the defendant suffered severe mental impairment. The appellate court affirmed the conviction and sentence.
The court held that no reversible error was demonstrated on any of the three points raised. The McNaghten insanity test does not violate substantive due process. The mandatory life sentence for first degree murder does not violate the state constitution's prohibition on cruel punishment or equal protection guarantees merely because a defendant suffered mental impairment at the time of the crime.
[1] The McNaghten test for insanity is not arbitrary, unreasonable, or obsolete, and its application does not violate substantive due process.
[2] A mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder does not violate the constitutional ban against cruel punishment, even when the defendant suffered severe mental impairm…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“This issue has so recently been decided against the position assumed by appellant that we do not discuss it further and find that it does not present reversible error.”
The court's dismissal of the McNaghten insanity test challenge as recently decided precedent.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWalker was indicted for first degree murder, pleaded not guilty, and gave notice of intention to rely on an insanity defense. A jury returned a verdic…
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PER CURIAM.
The defendant was indicted for first degree murder; an information was filed and the defendant pleaded not guilty. Pursuant to Rule 3.210, CrPR, 33 F.S.A., the defendant gave notice of his intention to rely upon the defense of insanity.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty of first degree murder. The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment pursuant to Fla.Stat. § 775.082(2), F.S.A. No hearing was held pursuant to Rule 3.780, CrPR, 33 F.S.A., because the statute made a life sentence mandatory.
The only point presented by the appellant which urges error in the trial of the case against him is contained in his third point on appeal. This point urges that the McNaghten test of insanity is arbitrary, unreasonable, and obsolete and is consequently a denial of substantive due process of law. This issue has so recently been decided against the position assumed by appellant that we do not discuss it further and find that it does not present reversible error. See Anderson v. State, Fla.1973, 276 So. 2d 17.
Appellant’s remaining two points are as follows:
“I. Florida’s legal requirement that all persons not insane under the Mc-Naghten rule who are convicted of first degree murder be sentenced to life imprisonment violates Florida’s constitutional ban against cruel punishment where the evidence indicates the defendant suffered severe mental impairment at the time of the homicide.
“II. Florida’s legal requirement that all persons not insane under the M’Naghten rule who are convicted of first degree murder be sentenced to life imprisonment violates the due process and equal protection clauses of Florida’s constitution, as applied to a defendant who suffered severe mental impairment at the time of the homicide.”
We hold that no error has been demonstrated under either point. Appellant’s principal emphasis in argument was upon point II which urges that the Florida mandatory life sentence for first degree murder constitutes a denial of equal protection of the law. It is urged that because there was some evidence in the trial court that he was mentally ill that he thereupon becomes a member of a class which is denied equal protection because of the mandatory life sentence. While there is evidence in the record which the jury could have believed and under which it could have found him mentally incompetent, we find no evidence in the record that the appellant belongs to a special class or group. The argument that the mandatory life sentence is discriminatory is exactly the opposite of the generally accepted meaning of “equal protection.” It has often been stated that the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws requires that all persons be treated alike. See cases cited at 16 Am.Jur.2d Constitutional Law § 488. It is clear that the law under which the appellant was sentenced provides every individual convicted of first degree murder with exactly the same treatment.
Affirmed.
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Citator
Cited By
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Walker v. State, 296 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 1974)…BOYD, Justice. This cause is before us on petition for rehearing to reconsider our decision entered February 6, 1974, in which we quashed in part the decision of the District Court of Appeal, Third District, reported as Walker v. State, 284 So. 2d 448. Rehearing is granted; oral argument is dispensed with. After a careful re-examination of the record in this cause, with particular attention to the Addition to Transcript of Record-On-Appeal, containing the court reporter’s transcript of testimony…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- Earnest Eugene Anderson v. State, 276 So. 2d 17 (Fla. 1973)