Entries tagged with “Ralph Daniel Wright”
Issues
Jan 03, 2024
Overwhelming Percentage of Florida’s Hurst Resentencing Hearings End in Life Sentences
According to new research by the Death Penalty Information Center, 82% of Florida death-sentenced prisoners who completed new sentencing proceedings under Hurst v. Florida (2016) have been resentenced to life in prison without parole. Hurst found Florida’s death penalty scheme unconstitutional, and the Florida Supreme Court subsequently held that new death sentences must be unanimous, necessitating new sentencing hearings. Of the 157 cases DPIC previously identified as Hurst-eligible — anyone…
Issues
May 12, 2017
Florida Supreme Court Orders Exoneration of Ralph Daniel Wright, Jr.
The Florida Supreme Court has directed that Ralph Daniel Wright, Jr. (pictured) be acquitted of the murder charges for which he was sentenced to death in 2014, making him the 159th person exonerated from death row in the United States since 1973. On May 11, 2017, the court unanimously vacated Wright’s convictions for the murders of his ex-girlfriend and their son, ruling that the “purely circumstantial” evidence against him was insufficient to convict. A majority of the court joined a…