ORLANDO, Fla. — On Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate law 450, a law that would remove the requirement that a jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to impose the death sentence.
It brings about changes to the laws governing the execution of the death sentence in the state of Florida, one of which is the reduction in the required number of jurors.
In the past, unanimity was required; however, presently a simple majority of eight out of twelve jurors is sufficient. Previously, it had to be unanimous. This may result in a different outcome for many families of victims who are now engaging with the legal system in the state of Florida.
Alex Zaldivar, the son of Rafael Zaldivar, was a witness to a house invasion that took place a little more than ten years ago.
It was anticipated that he would testify against Bessman Okafor, the one who would subsequently order Alex’s murder. Since that time, Zaldivar has devoted his whole life to working for the day when justice will be served for his son.
Zaldivar said, “We are going on the 11th year, and by the grace of God I have the energy and power to continue.” “We are going on the 11th year,” This year, we are getting ready for the court case.
It is going to be quite a while until October comes around. The verdict from the jury is something that we are going to have to wait for.
Okafor was given a death sentence in 2015; however, in 2016, the Supreme Court determined that death penalties need a unanimous verdict from the jury.
According to Zaldivar, “all of the cases in which the jury could not reach a unanimous decision within that timeframe had to be brought back for resentencing.” “Unfortunately, our file was among those stored there, so here we are again today,” she said.
Now, Governor Ron DeSantis has given his signature to Senate Bill 450, which amends the laws governing Florida’s death sentence, including lowering the minimum number of jurors required to impose the death penalty. requiring an eight-out-of-twelve supermajority vote out of the whole jury. Something that Zaldivar said that he had been looking forward to.
“He was the one who killed my kid. He’s still alive. “He has to make a sacrifice of his life,” he remarked.
The distinction between being on death row and being sentenced to life in prison is not simply whether or not a person will be put to death; it also pertains to the kind of lifestyle they will be allowed to lead behind bars. Zaldivar said that he is preparing for Okafor’s punishment case, which includes a hearing on the status of the case on April 28.
“When you’re on death row, you’re housed in a cell that’s 6 feet by 9 feet.” As Zaldivar put it, “and you never know when that phone call is going to come saying your time is up.”
That is one of the reasons why Rafael and his family have not given up the struggle they are now engaged in.
Zaldivar said, “I still come to myself in the morning.” “And since then, we haven’t encountered him again.”
