Juror jailed for violating court rules in death penalty resentencing trial after chat about case leads to mistrial

Bessman Okafor, left, was convicted of the 2012 murder of Alex Zaldivar, 19, in Ocoee, Florida. A jury sentenced him to death but the Florida Supreme Court overturned the sentence because it was not unanimous. In a resentencing trial a juror allegedly talked to a friend to knew about the case leading to a mistrial. The juror was charged with indirect contempt of court on Oct. 25, 2023. (Okafor: Florida Department of Corrections; Zaldivar photo via his obituary)

Bessman Okafor, left, was convicted of the 2012 murder of Alex Zaldivar, 19, in Ocoee, Florida. A jury sentenced him to death, but the Florida Supreme Court overturned the sentence because it was not unanimous. (Okafor: Florida Department of Corrections; Zaldivar photo via his obituary)

After a rocky penalty phase process, jurors on Wednesday recommended — again — that Bessman Charles-Obinna Okafor, 39, receive the death sentence for fatally shooting Alex Zaldivar, 19, in a 2012 home invasion. The vote was 9 to 3, according to records out of Orange County, Florida.

Another panel reached the same decision in 2015, voting 11 to 1. The following year, however, Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that death sentences must be unanimous. This sparked a years-long fight over the nature of the death penalty in the Sunshine State. The current status quo is that jurors only need an 8 to 4 vote to recommend death.

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