John William Campbell, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee

Summary

The court affirmed Campbell’s first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. It struck the especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravator because the evidence did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim remained conscious and aware of impending death, but held the error harmless in light of the remaining aggravators. The court also upheld the cold, calculated, and premeditated and pecuniary-gain aggravators, rejected the constitutional challenge to Florida’s sentencing scheme, found the death sentence proportionate, and independently upheld the sufficiency of the murder evidence.