Robert Pernell McCloud, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee

Summary

The court affirmed McCloud’s convictions but vacated his death sentences and remanded for imposition of life imprisonment. It upheld the admission of his confession, concluding that he had not unambiguously reasserted his right to remain silent and that the confession was voluntary, and it found any error in excluding false-confession expert testimony harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The court also rejected McCloud’s jury-instruction, read-back, sufficiency, and double-jeopardy claims. Justice Canady, joined by Justice Polston, concurred in affirming the convictions but would have affirmed the death sentences because McCloud’s codefendants were convicted of lesser offenses or were otherwise ineligible for death.