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4w ago

Supreme Court Vacates 11th Circuit Ruling in Florida Death‑Penalty Case

The unsigned 7–2 decision sent the case back because the appeals court relied on DNA testing done after the trial that the jury never saw and must be reassessed without that evidence.

A fountain outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 14, 2026.
Bottom row, from left, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Top row, from left, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas answers questions during a visit to the University of Texas on April 15, 2026 in Austin.
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Overview

  • The Court issued an unsigned per curiam order on Monday that vacated and remanded the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Gary Whitton’s case, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting.
  • The high court said the appeals court erred by considering a 2002 DNA retest that was conducted after Whitton’s 1991 trial and never presented to the jury, noting that such post‑trial evidence cannot show how the jury was influenced at trial.
  • Whitton was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1990 killing of James Maulden; his federal challenge rests on a Giglio claim that a jailhouse informant, Jake Ozio, lied about his record and that inmate witnesses later recanted their testimony.
  • The remand directs the 11th Circuit to reassess Whitton’s claims without relying on the post‑trial DNA; the order does not grant relief and Thomas argued the error was harmless and noted Whitton may not have exhausted state remedies.
  • The move is the latest of several recent Supreme Court interventions in death‑penalty matters and could shape how lower courts treat evidence developed after trial in federal habeas reviews while the 11th Circuit reconsiders the case.