Oscar Ray Bolin, Jr. v. State of Florida

Summary

The court affirmed Bolin’s first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. It held that the deceased witness’s redacted prior testimony was admissible because Bolin had a meaningful and thorough prior opportunity for cross-examination, and that the suicide note was properly admitted because Bolin lacked a protected privacy interest in his prison cell and the seizure did not constitute a counsel-related confrontation. The court also found sufficient evidence of premeditation, upheld rejection of the proposed mental mitigator, and concluded that the death sentence was proportionate.