Up next
Hollywood writers' strike vs. AI
As stated, if Howell Emanuel Donaldson III had gone to trial and gotten convicted by a jury of his peers, he would have likely faced the death penalty. This is especially true because Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently passed into law an adjustment to the number of votes required by jurors to sentence someone to death. Previously, as The New York Times explains, Florida required a unanimous decision. Now, it will require only a two-thirds majority of 8 juror votes to 4 to sentence someone to death. As the Death Penalty Information Center states, this makes Florida the state with the lowest death penalty threshold in the United States. The Florida Department of Corrections says that executions in Florida go back to 1827 and can currently be delivered via execution or lethal injection. People typically get executed in Florida for committing murder.
Read Related Also: SEE IT ALL: Canadian Fugitive Leaves Dead Fish at ‘Goonies’ House, Steals Boat, Has to Be Rescued
But instead of facing execution, Donaldson faces life in prison. Each murder, as WFLA News Channel 8 shows Judge Samantha Ward explaining in court to Donaldson, carries a minimum of 25 years in prison without parole. And since Donaldson killed four people, he will be in prison for a minimum of 100 years. In other words, he received a prolonged death sentence, anyway. Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (2011 to 2019) said that the verdict “bring[s] finality to this case. Justice for the families and the assurance that his remaining years are spent in the hell of his own making is only fitting.”
