Eric Lee Simmons, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee

Summary

The court vacated Simmons’s death sentence because the jury did not unanimously find that the aggravating factors were sufficient to impose death or that they outweighed mitigation, and its death recommendation was only eight to four. The court held that this constitutional jury-trial error was not harmless because the State could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the sentence. The case was remanded for a new penalty phase. Perry, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have required imposition of a life sentence rather than a new penalty phase.