State v. Lobato
The Sixth DCA granted the State's certiorari petition and quashed a Polk County order that refused to apply Florida's 2023 death-penalty sentencing amendments (Ch. 2023-23, reducing the jury recommendation requirement from unanimous to an 8-4 supermajority and requiring a written order when a life sentence is imposed) to Respondent's pending capital trial. Agreeing with the Fifth DCA's Victorino decision, the court held the changes are procedural, not substantive, under Dobbert v. Florida and Collins v. Texas, and therefore do not violate the ex post facto clause even under the 'sufficient risk' test from Peugh v. United States. Judge White dissented, arguing the State failed to establish irreparable harm (since the same trial judge had already agreed to vacate an identical order in a companion case), failed to establish a departure from clearly established law under the Florida Constitution's ex post facto clause (which the State never briefed), and that certiorari relief was unwarranted where the trial court would grant relief on a simple motion to vacate.
Key facts
- Respondent faced a pending capital trial in Polk County for a pre-2023 murder; the trial court refused to apply Florida's 2023 death-penalty amendments (reducing jury recommendation requirement from unanimous to 8-4 supermajority and requiring written orders for life sentences).
- The State petitioned for certiorari to the Sixth District Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn the trial court's order and apply the new statutory procedures to Respondent's case.
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Why it matters
This is one of the first Florida appellate decisions to squarely address whether the 2023 legislative overhaul of capital sentencing procedures (supermajority jury recommendations, written orders for life sentences) can… — full analysis with a trial
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