Seems Desantis and the Florida GOP doesn't like precedent and is hell bent on executing folks.
news.yahoo.com
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Thu, February 23, 2023 at 6:55 PM EST·5 min read
Florida on Thursday executed 59-year-old Donald Dillbeck, who was sentenced to death 32 years ago by a non-unanimous jury under a death penalty statute that has since been found unconstitutional.
Dillbeck, who was killed as punishment for fatally stabbing a woman named Faye Vann, was the first person executed in Florida since 2019.
The timing of his execution appears to be part of a push by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to bring back death sentences by non-unanimous juries. DeSantis, who is expected to run for president, signed Dillbeck’s death warrant last month on the same day that he floated changing state law to allow non-unanimous juries to impose death sentences. “Maybe eight out of 12 have to agree or something,” DeSantis suggested at a Florida Sheriffs Association conference, just before ordering the execution of a man with that exact jury split.
“I know I hurt people when I was young. I really messed up,” Dillbeck reportedlysaid just before his death. “But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse. He’s taken a lot from a lot of people. I speak for all men, women and children. He’s put his foot on our necks. Ron DeSantis and other people like him can s—k our d—s.”
In a written statement, Vann’s children, Tony and Laura Vann, thanked DeSantis for carrying out the execution.“We were robbed of years of memories with her, and it has been very painful ever since. However, the execution has given us some closure,” they wrote.
Shortly after DeSantis’ jury suggestion, Republican lawmakers filed a set of bills that would replace the unanimous jury requirement with an 8-4 threshold and allow a judge to overrule a jury to impose a death sentence.
“I’m not minimizing what [Dillbeck] did to people,” Florida capital defender Allison Miller told the Tallahassee Democrat, “but he is most definitely a political pawn.”
DeSantis has cited the outcome of the trial for Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people in a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, as a reason to bring back non-unanimous jury verdicts. Cruz was sentenced to life in prison without parole after jurors split 9-3 over the death penalty. Not all of the victims of the Parkland shooting wanted Cruz to be sentenced to death.
Florida Executes Man Used As ‘Political Pawn’ By Ron DeSantis
Florida Executes Man Used As ‘Political Pawn’ By Ron DeSantis
"I know I hurt people when I was young. I really messed up," said Donald Dillbeck, who was sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury. "But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse."
1.1k
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Ron DeSantis
Thu, February 23, 2023 at 6:55 PM EST·5 min read
Florida on Thursday executed 59-year-old Donald Dillbeck, who was sentenced to death 32 years ago by a non-unanimous jury under a death penalty statute that has since been found unconstitutional.
Dillbeck, who was killed as punishment for fatally stabbing a woman named Faye Vann, was the first person executed in Florida since 2019.
The timing of his execution appears to be part of a push by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to bring back death sentences by non-unanimous juries. DeSantis, who is expected to run for president, signed Dillbeck’s death warrant last month on the same day that he floated changing state law to allow non-unanimous juries to impose death sentences. “Maybe eight out of 12 have to agree or something,” DeSantis suggested at a Florida Sheriffs Association conference, just before ordering the execution of a man with that exact jury split.
“I know I hurt people when I was young. I really messed up,” Dillbeck reportedlysaid just before his death. “But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse. He’s taken a lot from a lot of people. I speak for all men, women and children. He’s put his foot on our necks. Ron DeSantis and other people like him can s—k our d—s.”
In a written statement, Vann’s children, Tony and Laura Vann, thanked DeSantis for carrying out the execution.“We were robbed of years of memories with her, and it has been very painful ever since. However, the execution has given us some closure,” they wrote.
Shortly after DeSantis’ jury suggestion, Republican lawmakers filed a set of bills that would replace the unanimous jury requirement with an 8-4 threshold and allow a judge to overrule a jury to impose a death sentence.
“I’m not minimizing what [Dillbeck] did to people,” Florida capital defender Allison Miller told the Tallahassee Democrat, “but he is most definitely a political pawn.”
DeSantis has cited the outcome of the trial for Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people in a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, as a reason to bring back non-unanimous jury verdicts. Cruz was sentenced to life in prison without parole after jurors split 9-3 over the death penalty. Not all of the victims of the Parkland shooting wanted Cruz to be sentenced to death.
