Thomas Ford McCoy, Jr. v. State of Florida

Summary

The court affirmed McCoy’s first-degree murder conviction and death sentence after independently confirming that his guilty plea was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. It upheld the cold, calculated, and premeditated aggravator, concluded that death was proportionate despite McCoy’s mental illness, rejected a categorical constitutional bar to executing severely mentally ill defendants, and denied his challenge under Ring. No separate opinions were filed.