Samuel L. Smithers v. State of Florida
Samuel L. Smithers v. State of Florida
Dissenting Opinion
*154I cannot agree with the majority's finding that the Hurst error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As I have stated elsewhere, "[b]ecause Hurst requires 'a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,' the error cannot be harmless where such a factual determination was not made." Hall v. State ,
Opinion of the Court
Samuel L. Smithers, a prisoner under sentences of death, appeals the circuit court's order summarily denying his first successive motion for postconviction relief, which was filed under *153Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.
In 1998, a jury convicted Smithers of two counts of first-degree murder for the 1996 killings of Cristy Cowan and Denise Roach. After hearing evidence at the penalty phase, the jury unanimously recommended the death sentence for each murder by a vote of twelve to zero. We affirmed Smithers' convictions and sentences of death on direct appeal. Smithers v. State ,
In January 2017, Smithers filed his current first successive postconviction motion in which he raised numerous claims in light of Hurst v. Florida (Hurst v. Florida ), --- U.S. ----,
In Davis , this Court held that a jury's unanimous recommendation of death is "precisely what we determined in Hurst to be constitutionally necessary to impose a sentence of death" because a "jury unanimously f[inds] all of the necessary facts for the imposition of [a] death sentence[ ] by virtue of its unanimous recommendation[ ]." Davis ,
Accordingly, because we find that any Hurst error in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, we affirm the circuit court's order summarily denying Smithers' first successive motion for postconviction relief.
It is so ordered.
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, and LAWSON, JJ., concur.
CANADY and POLSTON, JJ., concur in result.
QUINCE, J., dissents with an opinion.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Samuel L. SMITHERS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published