Florida prosecutor seeks death penalty in sex abuse case in a test of a new state law
A Florida prosecutor announced late last month that he will seek the death penalty in a child sexual assault case. The indictment is a test of a new state law that allows a person convicted of the rape of a minor to be sentenced to death.
In a statement on his website, State Attorney William Gladson said the suspect, 36-year-old Joseph Andrew Giampa, was indicted on six counts of sexual battery on a child under the age of 12, and three counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child.
“The decision to pursue the highest penalty reflects the gravity of the charges and the State Attorney’s Office’s dedication to holding criminals accountable for their actions,” Gladson stated.
The bill, which also establishes a minimum sentence of life without parole, was enacted on October 1.
The new law defies the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008), which found that “the Eighth Amendment categorically rules out the death penalty in even the most extreme cases of child rape” when “the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in death of the victim” because it violates the Cruel and Unusual Punishment clause.
But Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill into law, is betting that the Republican conservative majority on the Supreme Court will overturn Kennedy, a 5-4 decision written for the majority by then-Justice Anthony Kennedy. Three of the four dissenters in Kennedy, Samuel Alito, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas, are still on the Court and have been joined by conservative justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch.
This bill was the second death penalty-expanding bill DeSantis signed into law. In April, he signed a bill that eliminated the requirement that a jury recommendation for a death sentence had to be unanimous, lowering the requirement to an 8-4 vote, the lowest threshold in the U.S.
That legislation was spurred by the frustration felt by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers over the Parkland shooting verdict last year. In that case, Nikolas Cruz was convicted of killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. He was sentenced to life without parole after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, as was then required. When DeSantis signed that bill into law, he was surrounded by lawmakers and the parents of Parkland victims.
