Jackson v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Debra Pearce. Pearce was stabbed in her kitchen in 2004. The murder remained unsolved until 2008 when DNA from a hair found on Pearce’s body and a fingerprint found in blood on the sink above Pearce’s body were both matched to Defendant. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the challenges Defendant raised with respect to the identification and timing of the sink fingerprint, the hair, and his participation in the murder were issues that were properly presented to and decided by the jury; (2) Defendant’s claim that the evidence was insufficient to establish that he was an active participant in the murder was not preserved for appeal; (3) the State presented sufficient evidence to support the jury finding of premeditation; (4) any error in the prosecutor’s closing statements was not fundamental; (5) the especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel aggravating circumstance was properly applied; (6) the death sentence was proportionate in this case; and (7) the Court declines to revisit the decisions holding that Florida’s capital sentencing scheme does not violate the federal Constitution under Ring v. Arizona or Apprendi v. New Jersey.
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