Paul Durousseau, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of Durousseau's postconviction ineffective-assistance claims because he did not establish deficient performance or prejudice from counsel's voir dire decisions. It held that his death sentence was unconstitutional because the jury did not unanimously find every fact necessary to impose death, and the State failed to prove the constitutional error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The court therefore vacated the death sentence and remanded for a new penalty phase. Canady, J., and Perry, Senior Justice, concurred in part and dissented in part, concluding that the case should not proceed to a new penalty phase; Perry would have required a life sentence, while Canady would have denied retroactive application of the jury-trial rule.