Richard Knight, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee; Richard Knight, Petitioner, v. Julie L. Jones

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of Knight's postconviction motion and denied habeas relief, rejecting his ineffective-assistance, Brady, procedural, lethal-injection, and appellate-counsel claims. It held that any Hurst sentencing error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the jury unanimously recommended death after receiving substantially adequate instructions and hearing aggravating and mitigating evidence. Justice Quince, joined by Senior Justice Perry, and Senior Justice Perry separately disagreed with the harmless-error conclusion; Perry would have imposed life imprisonment, while Quince would have ordered a new penalty phase.