Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the Florida Legislature to change a state law that requires a unanimous jury vote to impose a death sentence.
Speaking at the Florida Sheriffs Association Winter Conference in St. Johns County on Jan. 23, DeSantis called upon Florida’s legislators to reconsider the state’s requirement that a jury must vote unanimously to recommend the death sentence before a judge can consider imposing a death penalty sentence.
The governor noted how Nikolas Cruz—the 18-year-old who killed 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018—was spared a death sentence last November because a Broward County jury did not unanimously agree to recommend the ultimate sentence….