TIMOTHY LEE HURST, PETITIONER v. FLORIDA
Supreme Court of the United States, Sotomayor, Filed Jan. 12, 2016,
6th Amendment – Capital Punishment – “The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death.”

Attacking hybrid fact-finding systems

The Sixth Amendment protects a defendant’s right to an impartial jury. This right required Florida to base Timothy Hurst’s death sentence on a jury’s verdict, not a judge’s factfinding. Florida’s sentencing scheme, which required the judge alone to find the existence of an aggravating circumstance, is therefore unconstitutional

6th Amendment – Due Process – any fact that “expose[s] the defendant to a greater punishment than that authorized by the jury’s guilty verdict” is an “element” that must be submitted to a jury. Quoting Apprendi