ORLANDO, Fla. _ The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the death penalty of a man convicted of murdering a state prison guard with a knife, ruling that because the jury did not unanimously recommend a death sentence, he should get a new penalty phase.
The ruling appeared to strike down the death penalty of every person on Florida's death row who was sent there following a jury vote that was not unanimous, said Orange-Osceola Public Defender Robert Wesley.
It was not immediately clear how many of the 385 inmates on Florida's death row would be affected.
Wednesday's ruling is the latest in a string of appeals court opinions that have found Florida's death penalty to be unconstitutional, including a rewrite by the Florida Legislature in March and April.
The reforms started in January, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Florida's death penalty was unconstitutional because it failed to require jurors _ not judges _ to make the final decision on whether a convicted murderer should get the death penalty.
The Florida Legislature revised the statute and Gov. Rick Scott signed it into law, but the new measure failed to require a unanimous jury vote.
Legislators said a 10-2 vote was good enough.
Wednesday's 7-0 ruling was a rejection of that decision.
In January, the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court left it to the Florida Supreme Court to determine how broadly to interpret its ruling.
Florida has not executed anyone since Jan. 7 because of uncertainty about the soundness of its death penalty statute.
