Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office is urging the Florida Supreme Court to dismiss cases about a new death-penalty sentencing law, saying the cases are premature.
Jason Looney and Guerry Hertz, who were convicted of committing murders in 1997 in Wakulla County, appealed to the Supreme Court this month to try to prevent the new law from being used in their resentencing proceedings.
The law eliminated a requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before death sentences can be imposed, allowing death sentences after 8-4 jury votes.
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A circuit judge said the law should apply to Looney and Hertz, who face new sentencing proceedings after their death sentences were vacated in 2017. Their attorneys contend that applying the law “retroactively” would violate the inmates’ rights.
But Moody’s offices filed two motions Thursday seeking dismissal of the cases.
It said the arguments are “unripe” for Supreme Court consideration because the men have not been sentenced to death under the law.
The motions said the retroactivity issue should be considered in appeals after new sentences are imposed. The Supreme Court on June 19 issued a stay of the circuit-court sentencing proceedings as it considers the issues.
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