JESSE GUARDADO, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent.
No. SC17-389
Supreme Court of Florida
[May 11, 2017]
PER CURIAM.
This case is before the Court on the petition of Jesse Guardado for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See
The underlying facts of this case were described in this Court‘s opinion on direct appeal. Guardado v. State, 965 So. 2d 108, 110-12 (Fla. 2007). Guardado pleaded guilty to murder in the first degree and robbery with a weapon. After hearing evidence at the penalty phase, the jury returned a unanimous recommendation that Guardado be sentenced to death. The trial court found five1
denial of Guardado‘s initial postconviction motion. Guardado v. State, 176 So. 3d 886 (Fla. 2015).
In his present habeas petition, Guardado argues that he is entitled to relief pursuant to Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016), petition for cert. filed, No. 16-998 (U.S. Feb. 13, 2017). We agree with Guardado that Hurst is applicable in his case. See Mosely v. State, 209 So. 3d 1248 (Fla. 2016). However, because we find that the Hurst error in this case is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, we deny Guardado‘s petition. As we stated in Davis v. State, 207 So. 3d 142, 175 (Fla. 2016):
[T]he jury unanimously found all of the necessary facts for the imposition of death sentences by virtue of its unanimous recommendations. . . . The unanimous recommendations here are precisely what we determined in Hurst to be constitutionally necessary to impose a sentence of death.
Accordingly, the Hurst violation in this case is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and, as in Davis, does not entitle Guardado to relief.
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
CANADY, POLSTON, and LAWSON, JJ., concur in result.
QUINCE, J., dissents with an opinion.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND IF FILED, DETERMINED.
QUINCE, J., dissenting.
I cannot agree with the majority‘s finding that the Hurst error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As I‘ve stated previously, “[b]ecause Hurst ‘requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death,’ the error cannot be harmless where such a factual determination was not made.” Hall v. State, 42 Fla. L. Weekly S153, S165 (Fla. Feb. 9, 2017) (Quince, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (quoting Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616, 619 (2016)); see also Truehill v. State, 42 Fla. L. Weekly S223, S234 (Fla. Feb. 23, 2017) (Quince, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
Original Proceeding - Habeas Corpus
Billy H. Nolas, Chief, Capital Habeas Unit, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee, Florida,
for Petitioner
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Berdene Beckles, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida,
for Respondent
