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FL death row exoneree opposes death penalty measure [1]

['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- April']

Date: 2023-04-03  

Herman Lindsey, convicted of the 1994 murder of a Fort Lauderdale pawn shop worker in 2006 but was later exonerated, came to the state capital last week to speak about a death penalty measure which could change the minimum number of jurors required to sentence a defendant to death.

“Passing this bill…will create more innocent people going to death row,” Lindsey said. “Yes it will. It will. If you look at the vote count – my vote count was 8-4. And we don’t even understand…how my jury even reached a verdict of guilty.” Currently, 12 jurors must unanimously vote to sentence someone to death.

Lindsey, who serves now as executive director of the group for the anti-death penalty group Witness to Innocence, told the Phoenix in a follow-up email said that “it’s not about jurors being experts, but they need to understand the law, policies and procedures when judging someone’s life.”

In 2009 the Florida Supreme Court ordered his acquittal because of insufficient evidence.

The jurors in Lindsey’s case voted 8-4 to impose the death penalty, the exact same number of jurors required to impose a death sentence under the pending legislation.

Lindsey, who traveled up to the capital from South Florida, wasn’t the only speaker on Friday who appeared to make an impression on the House Judiciary Committee last week.

There was also Tony Montalto. His 14-year-old daughter Gina was one of 17 people who were killed during the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County’s Parkland.

State lawmakers who back reducing the number of jurors required to sentence an inmate from a unanimous 12-person jury to just eight jurors say they are trying to correct a grievous error in the system that was exposed last fall when a South Florida jury decided not to give the death sentence to Nikolas Cruz, the gunman at Parkland responsible for those 17 deaths.

“This bill (HB 555) is about victims’ rights,” Montalto told the committee. “Plain and simple. Sadly, my family has seen how a jury can be misled into denying justice for the victims.”

Montalto said that the decision by the jury not to impose a death sentence on Cruz was so upsetting and stressful to his father-in-law that it contributed to him suffering a fatal heart attack shortly after the verdict was announced.

“A single juror who later wrote a note to the judge, stopped the deliberations process,” said Montalto. “This bill will prevent that from happening. From allowing a single activist juror, to disrupt the justice system.”

Orange County Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis thanked both Montalto and Lindsey for speaking. She said she was voting no because of cases like Lindsey’s.

“You are the evidence that the state of Florida gets it wrong. So I appreciate you being here, and I appreciate your life,” she said while looking at Lindsey. “Because if it was up to the state of Florida you would not be here.”

In committee meetings, some Democrats and death-penalty opponents have noted Florida’s troubling history with capital punishment. There have been 30 death row exonerations in Florida, the most in the nation, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

In debate on the House judiciary committee last week, Brevard County Republican Thad Altman noted that many countries don’t have the death penalty and have a lower crime rate. He added that he didn’t believe that the death penalty served as a deterrent, but nevertheless he was supporting the measure.

“I’m voting for this bill – not because I agree with it 100%,” Altman said. “Not because I don’t have problems with the death penalty. I’m voting for the victims in supporting this bill.”

The full Florida Senate has already passed its version of the bill.

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[1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/04/03/fl-death-row-exoneree-opposes-death-penalty-measure-more-innocent-people-will-go-to-death-row/

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