24 July 2024 :
JULY 20, 2024 - Florida. Judge Dawn Nichols sentenced James Guzman to death, following the March 31 jury’s recommendation.
In March, a Volusia County jury voted 12-0 in favor of the death penalty for Guzman, now 59, Hispanic, for the brutal murder and robbery of David Colvin, 48, a businessman he chauffeured. Guzman has previously been found guilty three different times for using a sword to kill the victim in Daytona Beach on August 10, 1991. The defendant then stole money and a diamond ring from him, which he sold for crack cocaine and cash. The first two convictions were overturned on appeal and were sent back for new trials. The most recent conviction of the defendant for the crime was in 2016. At that time, a jury voted in favour of the death penalty for Guzman in an 11-1 decision, but that sentence was nullified the following year after Florida courts began requiring unanimous jury recommendations in death penalty cases. However, in April 2023, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill authorizing a new non-unanimous sentencing standard of 8-4 in capital cases. This new law was utilized for this resentencing. On the Guzman case see also HoC 17/03/2010, 03/05/2016, 22/02/2018, and 31/03/2024.
