Judge rules whether Nassau deputy killer's jurors have to be unanimous for death penalty
As jury selection gets underway in the sentencing phase for the 37-year-old Jacksonville man who killed Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers, jurors will not have to be unanimous in their recommendation of a potential death penalty.
Judge James Daniel issued his 17-page ruling Wednesday denying the motion by Patrick Rene McDowell's attorneys that Florida's revised capital sentencing is a violation of the ex post facto clause and inapplicable in his case.
When McDowell shot and killed the 29-year-old deputy during a traffic stop in 2021 and pleaded guilty to all counts two years later, a death sentence required a unanimous jury recommendation. However, and as the judge noted to McDowell at the time, the state was considering legislation to change the statute to only needing an 8-4 majority. The governor about a month later signed that amendment into law.
The defense contended the new standards cannot be applied retroactively.
The judge cited the State v. Victorino case that involved similar ex post facto concerns in the resentencing for the 2004 so-called Xbox murders in Deltona. When the resentencing began in 2023, the law still required a unanimous jury, but the new standards were passed on the day the jurors were sworn.
The 5th District Court of Appeal sided with allowing the 8-4 majority vote guidelines, stating the new law merely altered the methods employed in determining whether the death penalty can be imposed. The change "neither alters the definition of criminal conduct nor increases the penalty by which the crime of first-degree murder is punishable ... it does not constitute an ex post facto law."
Daniel deemed "There is no meaningful factual distinction between the instant case and Victorino."
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Previously the judge also denied the defense's motion to seeking a change of venue for the sentencing phase due to pervasive publicity overwhelmingly negative against McDowell.
Daniel responded that significant pretrial publicity does not require a trial to be moved out of the jurisdiction. He cited a 1977 ruling that states, "Knowledge of the incident because of its notoriety is not, in and of itself, grounds for a change of venue."
"Based on the evidence thus far, the court cannot determine if 'the general state of mind' of the residents of Nassau County 'is so infected by knowledge of the incident' that twelve impartial jurors cannot be seated in this case," the judge's ruling stated.
What happened to Deputy Joshua Moyers?
About 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 23, 2021, McDowell and a woman were on Sandy Ford Road when Moyers decided to pull over the van he was driving, the Sheriff's Office said.
The woman later told investigators that when McDowell saw the deputy's lights activated, he said, "I'm not going to jail," according to court documents. When he pulled over, the deputy asked him to get out of the vehicle. McDowell instead shot Moyers in the face and then again after collapsing to the ground, the body-worn camera video shows.
McDowell, a troubled military veteran on drug-offender probation, was in a stolen minivan at the time. He fled briefly in the van before abandoning it and hiding under a shed with the woman. She said she convinced him to let her go and she called 911 when she was far enough away, according to court documents.
During the ensuing manhunt, officers and McDowell exchanged gunfire and he and a K-9 were wounded. But McDowell eluded authorities for several days until being tracked to a park near Callahan and taken into custody.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Judge rules on Nassau County deputy killer's death penalty jury vote
