James Robertson, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee

Summary

The court denied appointed appellate counsel’s amended motion to withdraw, holding that Florida’s automatic and mandatory review of a death judgment requires counsel to continue providing diligent adversarial advocacy even when the defendant wishes to support the death sentence. The court concluded that requiring counsel to continue does not create an ethical violation and preserves meaningful review of the conviction and sentence. Justice Pariente concurred to address ethical and autonomy concerns, while Justice Canady, joined by Justice Polston, would have allowed a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver after a trial-court inquiry.