Florida’s Supreme Court wrestled with whether an inmate sentenced to death under a system found to be unconstitutional should have his punishment reduced to life in prison, and the lives of nearly 400 other condemned prisoners may depend on the decision.
David Davis, the attorney for inmate Timothy Lee Hurst, argued for the lesser punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Florida’s death sentencing system gave too much deference to judges, not juries.