Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...The pertinent portion of the bill stated: Section 1. Section 922.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 922.10 Execution of death sentence; executioner. —A death sentence shall be executed by electrocution or lethal injection in accordance with s. 922.105.... Section 2. Section 922.105, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 922.105 Execution of death sentence; prohibition against reduction of death sentence as a result of determination that a method of execution is unconstitutional.— (1) A death sentence shall be executed by lethal injection, unless the person sentenced to death affirmatively elects to be executed by electrocution....

...evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." Id. HISTORY OF LETHAL INJECTION IN FLORIDA In 2000, the Florida Legislature provided for a new method of execution: lethal injection. See ch.2000-1, § 1, Laws of Fla. [17] Section 922.105(1) now provides: "A *342 death sentence shall be executed by lethal injection, unless the person sentenced to death affirmatively elects to be executed by electrocution." See § 922.105(1), Fla....

...The statute does not provide the specific procedures to be followed or the drugs to be used in lethal injection; instead it expressly provides that the policies and procedures created by the DOC for execution shall be exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 120, Florida Statutes. See § 922.105(7), Fla. Stat. (2006); Sims v. State, 754 So.2d 657, 670 (Fla.2000). Shortly after the amendment of section 922.105, Terry Sims challenged the lethal injection protocol in effect in 2000 as failing to provide sufficient details and procedures for administering lethal injection....

...In direct response, on December 7, 1999, Governor Bush announced that a special session of the Florida Legislature would be held for the sole purpose of considering a piece of legislation that would authorize that "death sentences be carried out by lethal injection or electrocution." After section 922.105, Florida Statutes, was amended to provide for lethal injection, the United States Supreme Court dismissed its grant of certiorari in Bryan as improvidently granted "[i]n light of the representation by the State of Florida, through its...

...State, 690 So.2d 1241, 1244 (Fla.1997). Additionally, the Florida Legislature recently amended the death penalty statute to provide that execution shall be by lethal injection unless the sentenced person affirmatively elects to be executed by electrocution. See § 922.105, Fla....

...He claims that he is exempt from execution because he suffers from severe mental illness. He also argues that the trial court erred in denying his various requests for public records. We consider each of these claims in turn below. Lethal Injection Diaz challenges Florida's lethal injection statute, section 922.105, Florida Statutes (2006), on several grounds....

...tute. Diaz also argues that the Legislature gave DOC "unfettered discretion to legislate" when it exempted the DOC's policies and procedures for execution from the administrative safeguards of chapter 120, Florida's Administrative Procedure Act. See § 922.105(7), Fla....

...Accordingly, Diaz did have an alternative avenue for challenging the lethal injection procedure in federal court, but did not utilize it. In 1999, Diaz filed a federal habeas petition in federal district court. The petition was pending until January 2004. On January 14, 2000, section 922.105 was amended to provide for lethal injection as the method of execution in Florida....

...Although section 922.10, Florida Statutes (1997) (calling for execution by electrocution), [52] remains unchanged, chapter 922 has been amended to provide that if electrocution is held to be unconstitutional, then all capital defendants shall be executed by lethal injection: 922.105 Execution of death sentence by lethal injection if death by electrocution is declared unconstitutional; prohibition against reduction of death sentence as a result of determination that a method of execution is unconstitutional.— (1) A death sentence shall be executed by electrocution pursuant to s....

...Constitution or the Constitution of the United States. In any case in which an execution method is declared unconstitutional, the death sentence shall remain in force until the sentence can be lawfully executed by any valid method of execution. *440 § 922.105, Fla....

...Terhune, 147 F.3d 1158 (9th Cir.1998), declared unconstitutional the California statute that required or permitted execution by lethal gas. [9] See Jones v. State, 701 So.2d 76 (Fla.1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1014, 118 S.Ct. 1297, 140 L.Ed.2d 335 (1998). [10] See § 922.105(1), Fla....

...c chair."). [38] Both Kentucky and Tennessee have recently switched from electrocution to lethal injection as the official method of execution. See Ky.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 431.220 (Mitchie Supp. 1998); Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-23-114 (Supp. 1998). [39] See § 922.105(1), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998) ("If electrocution is held to be unconstitutional... all persons sentenced to death for a capital crime shall be executed by lethal injection."). [40] See supra note 19. [41] See § 20.315(6), Fla. Stat. (1997). [42] See § 922.105, Fla....

...onal right to be present at all critical stages of trial was violated; (7) Moore did not receive a mental exam by a competent, confidential expert, to which he is entitled under Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985); (8) section 922.105(1)-(2), Florida Statutes (1999), violates the constitutional requirement for a knowing and voluntary waiver of one's fundamental constitutional rights; (9) the trial court erred in rejecting Moore's claim that several statements made...

...(2013) (establishing procedures for the imposition and administration of the death penalty); § 922.06, Fla. Stat. (2013) (establishing procedures for a stay of execution); § 922.10, Fla. Stat. (2013) (establishing means by which a death sentence shall be executed); § 922.105(1), Fla....

...State, 775 So.2d 909, 920 (Fla.2000) (finding that Arbelaez would not be entitled to relief based on his "inability to conduct `fishing expedition' interviews with the jurors after a guilty verdict is returned"). [13] Because electrocution was the only means of execution prior to the 2000 amendment to section 922.105, Florida Statutes, Preston could not have challenged lethal injection on direct appeal. And, because the 2000 amendment is retroactive, we disagree with the trial court's holding that Preston's claim is procedurally barred. See Bryan v. State, 753 So.2d 1244, 1254 (Fla.2000) (stating that the legislature intended section 922.105 to be applied retroactively); see also Sims v. State, 754 So.2d 657, 664-65 (Fla.2000) (holding that retroactive application of section 922.105 "does not violate the Ex Post Facto clauses of the state and federal constitutions")....

...State, 701 So.2d 76, 79 (Fla.1997). Further, the Florida Legislature amended the death penalty statute to provide that execution shall be by lethal injection unless the sentenced person affirmatively elects *438 to be executed by electrocution. See § 922.105, Fla....

...constitutional prohibition against "special laws," and (4) the statute provides for a waiver that is not knowing and intelligent. SEPARATION OF POWERS Bryan argues that chapter 2000-2, section 2 of the Laws of Florida (amending, among other things, section 922.105, Florida Statutes (1999)) is unconstitutional because the legislature engages in constitutional interpretation, which is the exclusive domain of the judiciary....

...hus exercising this Court's power and duty to adjudicate conflicts arising from the interpretation or application of laws. See Commission on Ethics v. Sullivan, 489 So.2d 10, 13 (Fla. 1986). Bryan further argues the amendments to sections 922.10 and 922.105, Florida Statutes, which add lethal injection as a method of execution, also violate the separation of powers doctrine in that the legislature unlawfully delegated its authority to the DOC....

...nlawful delegation of legislative power argument in Sims, we hold that Bryan's claims regarding the separation of powers doctrine are without merit. UNLAWFUL AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION We also find without merit Bryan's assertion that in amending section 922.105 as mentioned above, the legislature unlawfully amended the Florida Constitution....

...en materials before the court, its ruling is tantamount to a pure question of law, subject to de novo review. See State v. Coney, 845 So.2d 120, 137 (Fla.2003). We address each of Power's claims in turn. First, Power argued at the circuit court that section 922.105, Florida Statutes (2006), violates the separation of powers doctrine....

...gs. We conclude that the statutory exemption does not give DOC "unfettered discretion" as to lethal injection procedures. Diaz, 945 So.2d 1143-44; see also Sims v. State, 754 So.2d 657, 668 (Fla.2000) ("We likewise conclude that [sections 922.10 and 922.105, Florida Statutes (2000),] do[ ] not improperly delegate legislative authority to an administrative agency.")....

...the sentence." Nelson, 541 U.S. at 644, 124 S.Ct. 2117. Florida law specifically provides for carrying out death sentences "by any constitutional method of execution" if execution by electrocution or lethal injection is held to be unconstitutional. § 922.105(3), Fla....

...tion by lethal injection. Rutherford has been on Florida’s death row for more than nineteen years. See Rutherford v. Crosby, 385 F.3d 1300, 1305 (11th Cir. 2004). The state enacted a lethal injection option statute six years ago. See Fla. Stat. § 922.105(1) (as amended by 2000 Fla....

compare Ala. Code § 15—18— 82.1,.with Fla. Stat. § 922.105 (2005). However, due to the scarcity of and secrecy

...efore the court, its ruling is tantamount to a pure question of law, subject to de novo review.” Marek, 8 So.3d at 1127 (citing State v. Coney, 845 So.2d 120, 137 (Fla.2003)). Separation of Powers In his first claim on appeal, Ferguson argues that section 922.105, Florida Statutes (2006), constitutes an unconstitutional delegation of powers by the Florida Legislature to the executive branch because there are insufficient guidelines provided in the statute....

...contest its credibility; (4) that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present certain mitigation evidence at Patrick’s penalty phase; and (5) that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to investigate and present available mitigation evidence; (6) section 922.105, Florida Statutes (2014), and Florida’s existing procedure for lethal injection violate article II, section 3 and article I, sections 9 and 17 of the Florida Constitution and the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, b...

...ative effect of counsel's ineffective assistance, prosecutorial misconduct, and the other errors in this case entitles Patrick to a new trial; (5) trial counsel was ineffective in failing to investigate and present available mitigation evidence; (6) section 922.105, Florida Statutes (2014), and Florida's existing procedure for lethal injection violate article II, section 3 and article I, sections 9 and 17 of the Florida Constitution and the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, bot...

present available mitigation evidence; and (8) section 922.105, Florida Statutes (2016), which governs execution