DELAND, Fla. – A new law regarding jury recommendations and the death penalty can be applied to the resentencing of two men in the 2004 murders of several people at a Deltona home, the Florida appeals court ruled Thursday.
But how the resentencing, which was already underway, proceeds will depend very much on whether they still have a jury, the judge in the case decided Friday.
The court said it would contact the jurors to find out if they will be able to stay with the case given the latest ruling. A decision would be made by the next court date on Tuesday. If the court does not have 12 jurors that will complicate how the case goes forward.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal halted the resentencing of Troy Victorino, 46, and Jerone Hunter, 36, last month at the state’s request.
Victorino and Hunter were convicted of killing six people and a dog in what became known as the Xbox murders. The crime was called that because Victorino had gone to the home to retrieve an Xbox system he had left behind after he had been caught squatting there.
The SAO says there will be a status hearing giving more details tomorrow at 3PM. @news6wkmg https://t.co/IgFGxwxUMT
— Molly Reed (@Mollyreednews) May 11, 2023
When Victorino and Hunter were originally convicted of the murders in 2006, they were sentenced to death, but the sentence was not based on a unanimous jury recommendation.
After the Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2017 any death penalty sentence had to be based on a unanimous recommendation, new resentencing trials were ordered for Victorino and Hunter.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis remade the state supreme court with more conservative justices, who have since walked back that 2017 ruling.
That allowed the Florida Legislature this past year to pass a law that allowed death penalty sentences with an 8-4 jury recommendation, as opposed to a unanimous recommendation.
In the original 2006 sentencing, both men were sentenced to death with a 10-2 jury recommendation.
In addition to the status of the jury, attorneys for Hunter and Victorino also planned to file appeals because of the new death penalty law and the appeals court ruling. What happens with those appeals will also complicate the current resentencing case.
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