Florida Supreme Court denies Avalos’ appeal to avoid death penalty

The Florida Supreme Court has denied Andres Avalos' appeal to stop prosecutors from seeking the death penalty if he is convicted of the three first-degree murder charges he is facing.

Avalos, 36, is charged in the Dec. 4, 2014, deaths of his wife Amber Avalos, 33; neighbor Denise Potter, 46; and the Rev. James “Tripp” Battle, 31. A prosecutor said Avalos confessed to the slayings after he was arrested Dec. 6, 2014, following a 51-hour manhunt.

The case is set to go to trial beginning May 8. If convicted, the state has indicated it will seek the death penalty.

Avalos’ defense has indicated it will be relying on an insanity defense. If he is convicted, his defense has also indicated that it will rely on claims that he was emotionally or mentally disturbed and under extreme duress at the time of the killings in an effort to spare him from the death penalty.

On April 6, Avalos’ defense attorney, Andrew Crawford, filed an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court asking that Circuit Judge Diana Moreland, who is presiding over the case, be prohibited from qualifying a jury to enter a death penalty phase should Avalos be convicted.

On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court denied the defense’s appeal on its merit, according the order filed. The order, however, is not final until after the time period during which the defense can request a rehearing.

In its order, the Florida Supreme Court cited a similar appeal filed in the case against Broward woman, Jacqueline Luongo. In Luongo’s case, the defense similarly asked that the presiding judge be prohibited from death qualifying a jury. That appeal argued that the indictment charging Luongo with first-degree murder did not list the aggravated factor required in a first-degree murder case in order to seek the death penalty.

Crawford had made similar arguments in Avalos’ case before Moreland last month after new state legislation was enacted that requires a unanimous vote by a jury to sentence a convicted murderer to death — finally correcting Florida’s death penalty scheme.

Avalos’ defense has also argued that the state should not be allowed to seek the death penalty against him because Florida’s death penalty’s scheme first went into limbo following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 12, 2016, ruling in Hurst vs. Florida. In that case, the court found it unconstitutional that Florida judges, not juries, have the ultimate say in whether to sentence someone to death.

While the state Legislature worked quickly to pass corrective legislation, on March 7, 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the ruling in Hurst also required a unanimous vote by a jury to sentence someone to death.

This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Florida Supreme Court denies Avalos’ appeal to avoid death penalty."