State v. Jones, 209 So. 3d 6

Four defendants indicted for first-degree murder (2011–2015) with notices of intent to seek death.
After the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hurst v. Florida, trial courts in two circuits ruled pretrial that the State could not proceed as death-penalty cases and scheduled non-death procedures or refused death-qualification of jurors.
In two other cases, trial courts accepted guilty-plea offers contingent on judicial guarantees of life sentences, ruling that death was not an available sentence post-Hurst.
The State petitioned this court for writs of prohibition, arguing the trial courts exceeded their jurisdiction by preventing prosecution as capital cases and by making pretrial determinations that death was unavailable.
The Second District stayed the underlying proceedings and consolidated the petitions for opinion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial courts may prevent the State from prosecuting pretrial as capital cases	State: Prosecutorial charging discretion allows the State to proceed with capital prosecutions; courts lack authority to bar that choice	Respondents: Hurst invalidated the core death-penalty machinery, so the remaining scheme is so altered that courts cannot allow capital prosecutions	Courts lack jurisdiction to prevent the State from prosecuting as capital cases; prohibition granted
Whether a trial court may make a pretrial determination that death is not an available sentence	State: Sentence applicability is for the statutory penalty phase after conviction; pretrial judicial determination creates an unauthorized trifurcated procedure	Respondents: Because Hurst struck parts of sentencing statutes, the court must conclude death is unavailable before trial	Trial courts cannot determine the applicability of the death penalty pretrial; such determinations are unauthorized and thus exceeded jurisdiction

Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016) (Sixth Amendment requires jury findings for death sentence; struck portions of Florida sentencing statute)
State v. Bloom, 497 So. 2d 2 (Fla. 1986) (trial court may not preclude prosecutor from seeking death; prohibition is proper remedy)
English v. McCrary, 348 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 1977) (writ of prohibition available when a lower court acts without or in excess of jurisdiction)
Coday v. State, 946 So. 2d 988 (Fla. 2006) (describes Florida's bifurcated capital sentencing scheme: separate guilt and penalty phases)
State v. Donner, 500 So. 2d 532 (Fla. 1987) (Florida Constitution bars judiciary from interfering with prosecutor's decision to seek death)