No. 21-6307

Donald James Smith v. Florida

Lower Court: Florida
Docketed: 2021-11-17
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: capital-case capital-punishment criminal-procedure due-process eighth-amendment fair-trial penalty-phase prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-amendment victim-impact
Key Terms:
DueProcess Punishment Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2022-01-14
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Was petitioner's right to a fair 'penalty phase' trial violated when the prosecutor told the jurors, during closing arguments in the guilt phase, that the child victim 'from the grave she's crying out to you, Donald Smith raped me. Donald Smith sodomized me. Donald Smith strangled me until every last breath left my body[L]' inferring that the child victim was begging the jurors for justice 'from the grave,' just before going into the penalty phase of the trial?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED Was petitioner’s right to a fair “penalty phase” trial violated when the prosecutor told the jurors, during closing arguments in the guilt phase, that the child victim “from the grave she’s crying out to you, Donald Smith raped me. Donald Smith sodomized me. Donald Smith strangled me until every last breath left my body[L]” inferring that the child victim was begging the jurors for justice “from the grave,” just before going into the penalty phase of the trial?

Docket Entries

2022-01-18
Petition DENIED.
2021-12-30
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/14/2022.
2021-12-16
Brief of respondent Florida in opposition filed.
2021-11-08
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due December 17, 2021)

Attorneys

Donald Smith
Richard Randall KuritzLaw Offices of Richard Kuritz, Petitioner
State of Florida
Carolyn M. SnurkowskiOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent