Miami, Jan 12 (EFE).-The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declared unconstitutional the death penalty system in the state of Florida, finding that it grants excessive power to judges at the expense of juries.
By a vote of 8-1, the justices struck down Florida's sentencing procedure because it gives juries "only an advisory role in recommending life or death."
The decision came on an appeal brought by Timothy Lee Hurst, sentenced to death in 2000 after being convicted for the murder of the manager at the restaurant where he worked in Pensacola.
While the jurors were split 7-5 on whether to impose the death penalty, the judge sentenced Hurst to die.
Florida's solicitor general argued before the high court that Florida's sentencing system is appropriate as it is the jury which recommends for or against capital punishment.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the majority, said a jury's "mere recommendation is not enough."
"The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death," she wrote.
Justices returned the case to the Florida Supreme Court, which will have to rule on whether Hurst should get a new sentencing hearing.
Florida, Alabama and Delaware are the only states not to require a unanimous decision by the jury to impose the death penalty.
