Oct 25, 2002 2 min read

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state’s death penalty sentencing law is constitutional even though it lets a judge overrule a jury’s recommendation. The court unanimously turned down two death row inmates who had appealed on the basis of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year in an Arizona case.

“They’re leaving it for the U.S. Supreme Court to make a decision,” said Marty McClain, a lawyer specializing in Florida capital cases.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court found Arizona’s capital sentencing law unconstitutional because it allowed a judge to find an aggravating circumstance necessary to impose the death penalty.

Juries, not judges, must make the crucial decisions on whether a convicted killer lives or dies, the court ruled.

But the Florida high court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the state’s sentencing statute over the last quarter-century.

The rulings came in separate opinions on cases involving Linroy Bottoson and Amos Lee King. Both men are expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gov. Jeb Bush praised the court’s ruling.

“Justice has been delayed for too long in these cases,” Bush said. “Bottoson and King have both spent more than 20 years on death row. Justice will now be served for the brutal murders they committed.”

Bottoson was convicted of killing postmistress Catherine Alexander, 74, in 1979, stabbing her 16 times and then running her over with a car.

King was convicted of murdering Natalie Brady, 68, who was raped, stabbed and beaten in 1977.

Bottoson’s jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2. King’s jury was unanimous in recommending death.

The Florida rulings were unanimous, but the justices disagreed strongly over the state’s law.

Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead wrote that Florida appeared to have a judicial fact-finding process directly contrary to the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in the Arizona case.

He said the court had sought a “safe harbor” by leaving the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court but the harbor might turn out not to be all that safe.

Justice Charles Wells, however, warned that applying the Arizona case to Florida law “would have a catastrophic effect on the administration of justice in Florida.”

Wells said all 369 people on death row would have a new basis to challenge their sentences.