Leonard P. Gonzalez, Jr. v. State of Florida, 375 So.3d 886

Leonard P. Gonzalez, Jr. was convicted of home-invasion robbery and two counts of first-degree murder, receiving death sentences based on a jury's 10-2 recommendation.
Florida Supreme Court affirmed Gonzalez's convictions and sentences in 2014; certiorari was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hurst decision, the State conceded Gonzalez was entitled to a new penalty phase; his death sentences were vacated.
Florida death penalty law changed several times, including removal of the jury unanimity requirement for death penalty recommendations.
Gonzalez sought a court order that the new, non-unanimity statute would not apply to his new penalty phase, challenging its constitutionality and applicability.
The circuit court denied his request, and Gonzalez sought relief from the Florida Supreme Court before the new penalty phase.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Application of new death penalty statute	Statute should not apply retroactively; unconstitutional	Statute applies to new penalty phase	Circuit court has jurisdiction; premature for FL Supreme Court review
Availability of writ of prohibition	Writ is appropriate to block application of statute	Circuit court is acting within jurisdiction	Writ of prohibition denied; not excess of jurisdiction
All-writs authority	Necessary to preserve Supreme Court jurisdiction	Writ not appropriate for appellate review	All-writs request denied; no jurisdictional preservation needed

English v. McCrary, 348 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 1977) (defines the scope of writ of prohibition as limited to excess-of-jurisdiction cases)
Williams v. State, 913 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 2005) (clarifies the all-writs provision does not create new appellate jurisdiction)
State v. Poole, 297 So. 3d 487 (Fla. 2020) (Florida Supreme Court retracted jury-unanimity requirement following Hurst)
Okafor v. State, 306 So. 3d 930 (Fla. 2020) (confirms circuit court's jurisdiction for new penalty phase)