07 February 2018 :

Circuit Judge Jalal Harb ordered a new sentencing hearing for Mark Anthony Poole because his death sentence was not unanimous. Poole, 55, Black, was sentenced to death on May 4, 2005 by a jury and on Aug. 25, 2005 by a judge for the murder of Noah Scott, 24, during a home invasion. Poole was also sentenced for raping Scott's pregnant fiancée (whose name is intentionally omitted) and beating her with an iron tool. The attack took place on Oct. 12, 2001. DNA evidence and eyewitness testimony identified Poole as the assailant in the home-invasion attack, court documents state. His death sentence was overturned on December 11, 2008 (see) after the Florida Supreme Court ruled his prior criminal history was inappropriately discussed during the penalty phase of his trial. On 28/06/2011 (see) Poole was again sentenced to death after a jury voted 11-1. In July 2016, Poole's lawyers appealed his conviction and sentence, about 6 months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Florida’s death penalty process was unconstitutional. Since the jury vote in his 2011 resentencing wasn't unanimous, he's entitled to a new sentencing hearing.