Farina v. State
Annotate this CaseIn 1992, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and six other offenses stemming from a robbery of a fast food restaurant. Appellant was sentenced to death for the murder. Appellant later filed a habeas petition, which the federal district court denied. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit granted habeas relief, set aside Appellant's death sentence, and remanded the case for a new penalty phase. Prior to the commencement of Appellant's new penalty phase, Appellant filed a motion based on newly discovered evidence. The trial court dismissed the motion as premature, concluding that because Appellant was awaiting resentencing, his conviction was not final for purposes of filing a successive postconviction motion. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that motions for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence should not be delayed until after the death sentence is final but, instead, should be brought as soon as possible after the discovery of the new evidence. Remanded.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.