Jacksonville, FL — Another Jacksonville man has had his death sentence overturned, as the Florida Supreme Court continues to work through death row inmates that were sentenced before the law was overhauled.
Robert Peterson was sentenced to death for the first degree murder of his stepfather, 64-year-old Roy Andrews, and also convicted of evidence tampering. Peterson was 41 and living at home with his mother and Andrews- who had been his stepfather since Peterson was 15-years-old- when Andrews urged Peterson’s mother to make him move out and stop giving him money.
Andrews was beaten and shot twice, and his body was found at the Greenlawn Cemetery near Peterson’s ex-girlfriend’s grave in 2005. Prosecutors showed Peterson told several people ahead of time that he was going to kill Andrews and admitted to a friend after the fact as well. Court records show various other pieces of evidence and witness statements to tie Peterson to the murder. Additionally, he admitted to a friend that he made sure the vehicle used during the crimes had been “crushed”.
The jury convicted and recommended the death penalty by a seven to five vote. In a string of Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court rulings- followed up by action from Florida lawmakers- a death sentence by a non-unanimous jury has now been found unconstitutional in Florida., and a new law has been put on the books to address that.
In working through the cases of inmates already on death row since the sentencing law has been overhauled, the Florida Supreme Court has generally drawn the dividing line at the 2002 Ring case requiring a unanimous jury. It has since been determined that ruling applied in Florida, so cases fully settled after that case have been getting new sentencing phases. Cases settled before, however, have been turned away so far, with the court saying those sentences were given with the best understanding of the law at the time.
Earlier this week, Florida Governor Rick Scott set the state's first execution since the US Supreme Court ruling that ultimately triggered this overhaul. Jacksonville man Mark Asay has been scheduled to be executed next month.