10 March 2017 :

The Florida Supreme Court granted relief to Charles Anderson. The Court has decided four more death penalty cases involving the application of the Hurst v. Florida and Hurst v. State decisions declaring Florida's capital sentencing procedures unconstitutional. The court granted new sentencing hearings in the cases of Charles Anderson (8-4 jury recommendation for death) and Howard Ault (9-3 jury recommendations for death on each of two counts in first trial; 9-3 and 10-2 recommendations for death on the two counts in Ault's re-sentencing trial). It denied relief to Cary Michael Lambrix, 57, despite a prejudicial violation of Hurst (8-4 and 10-2 jury recommendations for death), on the grounds that Lambrix's initial appeal predated the U.S. Supreme Court's 2002 decision on which Hurst is based. It also denied relief to Dale Middleton (unanimous jury recommendation for death), holding that any violation of Hurst was harmless.