TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court made a major decision Thursday about death sentences.
The court ruled that juries do not have to vote unanimously for a death sentence to be imposed. The ruling said the court “got it wrong” in 2016 when it required unanimous jury recommendations for death sentences.
The ruling came from a Polk County case where a death sentence was tossed out. Mark Anthony Poole was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder, attempted murder, armed burglary and armed robbery.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, a jury recommended Poole be sentenced to death in 2011 by a vote of 11-1. However, the death sentence was vacated because of the Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling that a unanimous jury was needed to impose the death penalty.
You can read more about the Florida Supreme Court's decision here.
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