[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLORIDA

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 2



FLORIDA----stay of impending execution

Florida Court Halts Feb. 11 Execution Of Cary Lambrix


The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an indefinite stay of execution for 
Cary Michael Lambrix, who had been scheduled to die Feb. 11.

The order came hours after the court heard oral arguments that focused on the 
impact of a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this month that struck down the 
state's death-penalty sentencing system.

Original report: Oral arguments began Tuesday morning for Florida's 1st death 
penalty case since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Florida's death penalty system 
unconstitutional in mid-January.

Florida's Supreme Court justices heard arguments for whether they should grant 
Cary Lambrix, a man scheduled to die Feb. 11, a stay of execution until it can 
be determined how to apply the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The judge's decision 
is expected to arrive at any time before Feb. 11.

Lambrix's defense team, including attorney Martin J. McClain, quickly addressed 
the issue of retroactivity, which is when a law or court decision affects 
already existing rights.

In this case, it would determine whether the state would issue him a stay of 
execution or life in prison in lieu of the death penalty on the basis on 
Florida's unconstitutional death penalty system.

The U.S. Supreme Court found Florida's law flawed because it allows judges to 
decide on death sentences and override a jury's recommendation.

Lambrix murdered 2 people - Clarence Moore and Aleisha Bryant - in 1983 near 
LaBelle in Southwest Florida and was convicted on 2 counts of 1st-degree 
murder. The jury recommended the death sentence by votes of 10-2, for Moore, 
and 8-4, for Bryant.

McClain argued for the court to think of the U.S. Supreme Court case as 
retroactive. He also argued for the court to delay the execution and grant 
Lambrix a life imprisonment sentence on the ground of insufficient aggravating 
circumstances.

Florida's "statute is different," McClain said. "Our statute says there has to 
be sufficient aggravating circumstances. The purposes of aggravating 
circumstances are too narrow to ensure that it's the worst of the worst."

Scott A. Browne, a prosecutor for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office, 
said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling does not apply retroactively and wants 
Lambrix executed on Feb. 11.

The Supreme Court case "is not retroactive," he said. "It's procedural."

Florida Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis questioned the validity of that 
statement.

"But at the same time, there's got to be something to the law that is beyond 
just technicalities," he said. "A man who is executed today, but one comes up 
tomorrow that is not, there's really no difference in their cases."

"I'm struggling with word games," Lewis added. "I appreciate all those things, 
I understand the differences, but doesn't there come a point in time where one 
has to look at this and say, 'What are we doing?"'

William Hennis, another attorney for Lambrix, said he hoped the court issued a 
stay of execution instead of a complete decision.

"That will allow us to go to state court, circuit court in Glades County," he 
said.

Hennis said he'll head back to Starke, Florida, to see Lambrix and discuss the 
case.

"Obviously, he'll be interested in hearing how the argument went," he said. 
"We'll obviously wait for a decision from the Florida Supreme Court as to going 
to the United States Supreme Court. I'm hoping that a stay will be entered."

Bondi hasn't yet issued a statement on the case.

(source: WUFT news)