No. 18-8664

Rodney Tyrone Lowe v. Florida

Lower Court: Florida
Docketed: 2019-04-02
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: caldwell-v-mississippi death-penalty eighth-amendment eighth-amendment-violation harmless-error hurst-v-florida jury-instructions
Key Terms:
DueProcess Punishment
Latest Conference: 2019-06-13
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does the Florida Supreme Court's exclusive reliance on a unanimous recommendation of death to find harmless error for violations of Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), violate the Eighth Amendment under Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320 (1985)?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED I. Does the Florida Supreme Court’s exclusive reliance on a unanimous recommendation of death to find harmless error for violations of Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), in a pre—Hurst case in which the capital defendant’s advisory jury, after being instructed that the findings of fact and sentencing decision would be made by the judge alone, violate the Eighth Amendment under Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320 (1985)? IL. Does the Florida Supreme Court’s application of an automatic harmless error rule to Hurst violations contravene this Court’s decisions holding a finding of harmless error cannot be automatic and mechanical, but must include consideration of the whole record, and must be accompanied by a detailed explanation based on the record? ii

Docket Entries

2019-06-17
Petition DENIED. Justice Sotomayor, dissenting from the denial of certiorari: I dissent for the reasons set out in Reynolds v. Florida, 586 U. S. ___ (2018) (Sotomayor, J., dissenting).
2019-05-29
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/13/2019.
2019-05-10
Brief of respondent State of Florida in opposition filed.
2019-05-01
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 13, 2019.
2019-04-26
Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 2, 2019 to May 13, 2019, submitted to The Clerk.
2019-03-26
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due May 2, 2019)

Attorneys

Rodney Lowe
Steven H. Malone — Petitioner
Steven H. Malone — Petitioner
State of Florida
Leslie Teresa CampbellOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent
Leslie Teresa CampbellOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent