A Florida appeals court has ruled that the state can continue to seek the death penalty against a first-degree murder defendant, reversing a lower court decision. The Third District Court of Appeal of Florida issued an opinion granting the state’s petition for a writ of certiorari and quashing an order from Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Alberto Milian.

Background

The case involves Julio Montez Morris, who was originally indicted in November 2013 for the first-degree murder of Jazzmon Parker and the attempted murder of Donnel Parker. The state initially filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.

In April 2019, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment against Morris, charging him with three counts of first-degree murder, including the original death of Jazzmon Parker and the mid-trial retaliation murders of two witnesses, Ezell Finklea and Ira Williams. The state filed a new notice of intent to seek the death penalty under the consolidated case number.

However, in March 2021, a Deputy Chief Assistant for the state’s legal division filed a form titled “Announcement of Death Penalty Waiver” for Morris, which was later discovered to be an administrative error. The state filed a motion for clarification, and the appeals court ruled that the trial court’s order blocking the state from pursuing a capital sentence against Morris was in error.

Appeals Court Decision

The appeals court found that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by transforming a mistaken administrative filing into a binding prosecutorial decision. The panel emphasized that no prosecutor had actually made a conscious decision to waive the death penalty for the 2019 charges.

The case will now proceed as a capital case unless the state enters a formal waiver on the record for the current charges.

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.