Hampton v. State, 103 So. 3d 98

Hampton convicted of first-degree murder for the 2007 death of Renee McKinness; jury recommended death 9–3.
Trial court imposed death after a Spencer hearing; several post-trial motions challenged juror D’s status.
Juror D allegedly was under prosecution during service; trial court denied relief; Hampton appealed.
Evidence showed victim suffered extensive blunt/sharp force injuries; DNA and semen matched Hampton; multiple post-Miranda statements by Hampton admitted to killing.
Penalty phase included mitigation from family and a Georgia probation officer; court found three aggravators and several non-statutory mitigators, weighing against defense.
On appeal, Hampton challenges juror disqualification, jury instruction, admission of autopsy photos, Ring v. Arizona issues, and statutory mitigation denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Juror D under prosecution	Hampton: juror was under prosecution during service.	Hampton contends juror disqualified under 40.013(1).	Juror D was not under prosecution; no disqualification; relief affirmed denied.
Juror misconduct/concealment	Juror D concealed arrest/prosecution during voir dire.	Juror misrepresented information; defense entitled to new trial or interview.	Defense preservation failed; no reversible error; De La Rosa framework not satisfied.
Felony murder instruction sufficiency	Evidence supported adding felony-murder instruction based on sexual battery.</	Insufficient preservation; independent review supports sufficiency of evidence.	Competent substantial evidence supported felony murder instruction; verdict sustained.
Autopsy photographs	Autopsy photos were prejudicial/cumulative and should have been excluded.	Photos relevant to causation and corroboration; admissible with discretion.	No abuse of discretion; photographs properly admitted given probative value.
Ring v. Arizona and Florida scheme	Ring prohibits judge-imposed death without jury unanimous aggravator findings.	Aggravator under under-sentence-of-imprisonment need not be submitted to jury; Ring does not apply.	Ring does not apply; Florida scheme upheld; under-sentence aggravator permitted without juror unanimity.

Crain v. State, 894 So.2d 59 (Fla. 2004) (upholds verdict where evidence supports multiple guilt theories)
Allen v. State, 854 So.2d 1255 (Fla. 2003) ( Ring applicability limited to certain aggravators)
Hodges v. State, 55 So.3d 515 (Fla. 2010) ( Ring does not apply to certain aggravators)
Victorino v. State, 23 So.3d 87 (Fla. 2009) ( Ring analysis in Florida death penalty context)
Durousseau v. State, 55 So.3d 543 (Fla. 2010) (trial court may weigh expert mitigation against evidence)
De La Rosa v. Zequeira, 659 So.2d 239 (Fla. 1995) (three-part test for juror nondisclosure prejudice)
Johnston v. State, 841 So.2d 349 (Fla. 2002) (juror not under prosecution when pending civil contempt; disclosure issues)
Everett v. State, 893 So.2d 1278 (Fla. 2004) (proportionality and aggravation analysis in death cases)
Spinkellink v. State, 813 So.2d 666 (Fla. 1975) (standard for sufficiency of evidence review in death cases)
Banks v. State, 732 So.2d 1065 (Fla. 1999) (evidence sufficiency and standard for appellate review)
Bradley v. State, 787 So.2d 738 (Fla. 2001) (jury credibility and evidence evaluation standards)