Serrano-Delgado v. State
The Second DCA rejected an unpreserved challenge to Florida's six-person jury in a non-capital sexual battery/molestation case, holding that Williams v. Florida remains binding precedent permitting six-person juries and that Ramos v. Louisiana (addressing unanimity, not jury size) did not overrule it. The court noted growing judicial skepticism about Williams, including a First DCA concurrence and Justice Gorsuch's dissent from denial of certiorari in a Florida case, but held it remains bound to follow Williams until the Supreme Court says otherwise.
Key facts
- Serrano-Delgado was charged with sexual battery/molestation in a case where death was not a permissible penalty; the trial court empaneled a six-person jury over the defendant's challenge.
- The defendant appealed, arguing for the first time on appeal that Florida's six-person jury violates the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, relying on Ramos v. Louisiana.
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Why it matters
This opinion is useful for practitioners because it directly addresses and rejects the increasingly common post-Ramos argument that Florida's six-person juries are unconstitutional, while candidly acknowledging the… — full analysis with a trial
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