Timothy Lee Hurst v. State of Florida, 202 So. 3d 40

Background

Timothy Hurst was convicted of 1998 first‑degree murder; after postconviction relief vacated his original death sentence, a resentencing jury in 2012 recommended death 7–5 and the judge imposed death.
The U.S. Supreme Court in Hurst v. Florida held Florida’s sentencing scheme unconstitutional because the judge, not the jury, made the critical findings necessary to impose death, and remanded for state‑court consideration of harmlessness.
On remand the Florida Supreme Court examined what findings constitute "facts necessary to impose death," the role of unanimity under Florida law, and whether section 775.082(2) requires automatic commutation to life.
The Court held the jury—not the judge—must find every fact necessary for death, including each aggravating factor proven beyond a reasonable doubt, that aggravators are sufficient, and that aggravators outweigh mitigation; those findings must be unanimous.
The Court declined to apply §775.082(2) to automatically convert Hurst’s sentence to life, concluding the statute addresses a categorical abolition of the death penalty, not a procedural Sixth Amendment defect.
Applying Florida harmless‑error law (DiGuilio), the Court found the Hurst error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and remanded for a new penalty‑phase jury proceeding.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Hurst v. Florida requires jury, not judge, to find facts necessary for death	Hurst: Sixth Amendment (Ring/Apprendi) requires jury find every fact that exposes defendant to death	State: advisory jury recommendation suffices; judge may make final findings	Court: jury must find every fact necessary for death (aggravators, sufficiency, outweighing mitigation) beyond reasonable doubt
Whether those jury findings must be unanimous	Hurst: unanimity is required (Florida history/constitution; Eighth Amendment concerns)	State: Ring/Apprendi require jury finding of aggravator(s) but not necessarily unanimity on weighing/recommendation	Court: unanimity required for each aggravator, for findings of sufficiency and outweighing, and for a death recommendation before judge may impose death
Whether §775.082(2) mandates automatic life if sentencing scheme defective	Hurst: statute requires life when death penalty held unconstitutional	State: §775.082(2) applies only if death penalty as a punishment is held unconstitutional generally	Court: §775.082(2) does not apply to Hurst (procedural Sixth Amendment defect); no automatic commutation to life
Whether the Hurst error in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt	Hurst: error is structural or at least not shown harmless because record lacks juror findings	State: any error was harmless — overwhelming evidence of aggravators would have produced same result	Court: error is not structural but not harmless here (7–5 advisory vote; substantial mitigation); remand for new penalty phase

Key Cases Cited

Hurst v. Florida, 136 S.Ct. 616 (U.S. 2016) (Supreme Court: Sixth Amendment requires jury, not judge, to find each fact necessary to impose death)
Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (aggravating factors that increase punishment are elements that must be found by a jury)
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000) (any fact that increases penalty beyond statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury)
Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004) (Apprendi principle applied to judicial findings increasing sentence)
Spaziano v. Florida, 468 U.S. 447 (1984) (upheld nonjury sentencing procedures in capital cases; overruled in part by Hurst)
Ring v. State (Arizona Supreme Court), 204 Ariz. 534 (state harmless‑error framework post‑Ring discussed)
Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1 (1999) (harmless‑error analysis applies to omitted elements errors)
Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967) (constitutional error may be reversed only unless harmless beyond a reasonable doubt)
Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976) (death is qualitatively different; individualized sentencing required)
Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586 (1978) (broad mitigation evidence must be considered)