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Nonunanimous death penalty verdicts upheld by Florida Supreme Court

January 5, 2026, 10:01 am CST

death penalty words and gavel and books

The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the legality of allowing death penalty verdicts by nonunanimous juries. (Image from Shutterstock)

The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the legality of allowing death penalty verdicts by nonunanimous juries, according to Legal Newsline.

In a Dec. 18 decision, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the legality of a 2023 statute permitting judges to impose capital punishment even if juries are not unanimous in their verdicts, according to Legal Newsline. Only two states, Florida and Alabama, allow courts to impose capital punishment when juries return nonunanimous recommendations in favor of a death sentence, according to Legal Newsline.

WBAL reports that for decades, Florida had not required unanimity in capital punishment, allowing a judge to impose the death penalty as long as a majority of jurors were in favor of the penalty. But in 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the state’s system allowed judges too much discretion, according to WBAL.

The state legislature then passed a bill requiring a 10-2 jury recommendation, but the state supreme court at the time said such recommendations should be unanimous, prompting lawmakers in 2017 to require a unanimous jury, according to WBAL.

But in 2023, state lawmakers altered the law again to allow trial courts to impose capital punishment based on a recommendation of eight or more jurors, according to Legal Newsline.

In the case before the Florida Supreme Court, defendant Michael James Jackson was convicted with co-defendants of kidnapping and robbing an elderly couple and then burying them alive in 2005, according to Legal Newsline.