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Jury Selection Begins in Resentencing of Harrel Braddy Under Florida’s 8-4 Death Penalty Law

The case will gauge how Florida’s 8-4 death‑penalty rule is applied under ongoing constitutional scrutiny.

Overview

  • Jury selection started this week in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for the resentencing of Harrel Braddy, nearly three decades after the 1998 crime.
  • A 2023 state law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis allows a death recommendation with at least eight of 12 jurors, replacing the prior unanimity standard.
  • Braddy, 76, remains convicted of murdering 5-year-old Quatisha Maycock and attempting to murder her mother, with the new jury deciding only the sentence.
  • Prosecutors say he left the child alive near Alligator Alley; trial testimony described alligator bites and fatal blunt-force head trauma.
  • The proceeding follows a wave of Miami-Dade resentencings under shifting capital-sentencing rules that still face unresolved legal challenges.