The Florida Supreme Court has denied a Death Row inmate’s appeal for a revised sentence based on newly discovered information about his biological parents.
Richard Barry Randolph, 62, was sentenced to death for the 1988 murder of Minnie Ruth McCollum, a store manager in Palatka. Randolph’s appeal centered on the argument that information about his biological parents, whom he recently connected with, could have influenced his sentencing.
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During his original trial, expert testimony suggested that Randolph suffered cruelty from his adoptive parents as a child. He argued that learning about his biological parents’ successful lives and careers could demonstrate a lack of genetic predisposition to violence and potentially lead to a lesser sentence.
However, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this argument. Justice John Couriel, who wrote the opinion, stated that the biological parents’ “generally successful lives do not tend to prove or disprove” any relevant issues in the case.
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“He therefore cannot show that the evidence he seeks to introduce would yield a less severe sentence,” Couriel wrote. “And even if Randolph’s genetic traits were a matter on which the sentencing court had to pass, the fact that his birth parents are from all outward appearances well-adjusted people would not necessarily establish anything about their, or his, inherited traits.”
Randolph remains on Death Row at Union Correctional Institution. This ruling upholds his original sentence and denies his request for reconsideration based on the new information about his biological family.
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