This week in Florida, there were two major events involving capital punishment in the Sunshine State.
1. Asay Execution With Etomidate
First, the execution of Florida Death Row inmate Mark James Asay was carried out on August 24, 2017.
This was the first execution by the State of Florida in over 19 months. Executions have been on hold in Florida after the SCOTUS decision in Hurst ruled the Florida capital punishment statute unconstitutional.
It was also the first execution to use a new three-drug lethal injection protocol, as the Asay execution involved the use of the drug etomidate.
2. Lack of Unanimity Denies State the Death Penalty in Kendrick Silver Trial
This week, the capital murder trial of Kendrick Silver when to a jury in Miami. And because one single juror could not agree that Silver should be executed for his crimes, there can be no death penalty in his case.
This is the first death penalty case that has been tried to completion in Miami since the new Florida death penalty law was passed by the Florida Legislature earlier this year.
The new statute had to be passed into law because of the SCOTUS decision in Hurst.
Under the new law, which requires all the jurors agree on the death penalty as the appropriate sentence, the power of a single juror is great. As is shown in this case, where the hold-out juror found that there were sufficient mitigating circumstances to shield the defendant from death.
Foe more on mitigation in a death penalty case, read:
- Mitigating Factors – List of State Statutes (Full Text)
- Mitigation Specialists Play a Vital Role In Death Penalty Defense