STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
ROBERT F. CARR, RESPONDENT
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.
Florida Supreme Court held that a trial judge has discretion to accept or reject a defendant's valid waiver of an advisory jury in capital cases, even when the waiver is voluntary and intelligent.
A trial judge may, in his or her discretion, accept a defendant's valid waiver of an advisory jury in a capital case and proceed to sentence without the jury's recommendation.
[1] In a capital case, a trial judge has discretion to accept a defendant's voluntary and intelligent waiver of an advisory jury and proceed to sentencing without the jury's…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA defendant pleaded guilty to first degree murder and executed a written waiver of an advisory jury that the trial judge found to be freely, intellige…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Advisory Jury cases and more on FLexlaw
OVERTON, Chief Justice.
This cause is before the Court upon a certified question pursuant to Florida Appellate Rule 4.6. The defendant in this cause pleaded, guilty to first degree murder and is subject to the imposition of the death sentence. The defendant entered a written waiver of an advisory jury, which waiver was determined by the trial judge to have been freely, intelligently, and voluntarily made. Counsel for the state and counsel for the defendant under the authority of Lamadline v. State, 303 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1974), have agreed that the defendant may waive the advisory jury proceeding. The trial judge, pursuant to Florida Appellate Rule 4.6, certified the following question:
“Whether a trial court in a capital case is required to accept a defendant’s valid waiver of an advisory jury pursuant to Florida Statute 921.141(2) resulting in a judicial determination of sentence without benefit of a jury’s recommendation in light of the guidelines toward uniformity in sentencing enunciated in Proffitt v. State of Florida, U.S.S.Ct.1976 [- U.S. -, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 48 L.Ed.2d -], and Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 [92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346] (1972)?”
In response to the question, we find that the trial judge, upon a finding of a voluntary and intelligent waiver, may in his or her discretion either require an advisory jury recommendation, or may proceed to sentence the defendant without such advisory jury recommendation.
The question having been answered, the cause is remanded for further proceedings.
It is so ordered.
ROBERTS, ADKINS, BOYD, SUND-BERG and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (12 total)
-
Palmes v. State, 397 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 1981)…ation, provided the waiver is voluntary and intelligent. Upon finding such a waiver, the sentencing court may in its discretion hold a sentencing hearing before a jury and receive a recommendation, or may dispense with that procedure. State v. Carr, 336 So. 2d 358 (Fla.1976); Lamadline v. State, 303 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1974). The record shows that the court inquired into appellant’s waiver and found it to be intelligent and voluntary. Appellant contends that the record shows that the judge did not consider the ev…
-
Akeem Muhammad v. State, 782 So. 2d 343 (Fla. 2001)…telligent waiver of the advisory jury’s recommendation, the trial judge “may in his or her discretion either require an advisory jury recommendation, or may proceed to sentence the defendant without such advisory jury recommendation.” State v. Carr, 336 So. 2d 358, 359 (Fla.1976). Following Carr, we have upheld the exercise of the trial court’s discretion in Sired v. State, 587 So. 2d 450 (Fla.1991), and Thompson v. State, 389 So. 2d 197, 200 (Fla.1980). Although the defendants in these previous cases did not…
-
Reynolds v. State, 934 So. 2d 1128 (Fla. 2006)…o a jury in the sentencing phase, provided the waiver is voluntary and intelligent.” State v. Hernandez, 645 So. 2d 432, 434-35 (Fla.1994) (citing Palmes v. State, 397 So. 2d 648 (Fla.1981); Holmes v. State, 374 So. 2d 944 (Fla.1979); State v. Carr, 336 So. 2d 358 (Fla.1976); Lamadline v. State, 303 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1974)). We have also recognized that even after a defendant makes a knowing and intelligent waiver of this right, a trial judge “may in his or her discretion either require an advisory jury recommen…
Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (U.S. 1972)
- Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (U.S. 1976)
- Lamadline v. State, 303 So. 2d 17 (Fla. 1974)