In Marshall v. Sec., Dep’t of Corrections, No. 09-15419 (June 28, 2010), the Court denied habeas relief to a Florida death-row inmate convicted of a 1988 murder.
Marshall argued that when the Florida trial court overrode the jury’s recommendation of a life sentence, and sentenced him to death, it violated Florida’s rule limiting such overrides to cases where it was clear that virtually no reasonable person could differ. The Court pointed out that the evidence showed that Marshall did not act in self-defense when he killed another prison inmate. Further, on federal habeas review, the courts ought not “second-guess” a Florida court’s application of its jury-override ruling, but can only overturn if it was arbitrary or discriminatory. Nothing in the record so suggested.
