the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion addressing several procedural issues...

the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion addressing several procedural issues regarding the state's capital punishment law. The Court urged state legislators to require capital jurors to be unanimous in recommending death sentences or at least in deciding what aggravating factors support a death sentence. "The bottom line is that Florida is now the only state in the country that allows the death penalty to be imposed even though the penalty-phase jury may determine by a mere majority vote both whether aggravators exist and whether to recommend the death penalty. The requirement of a unanimous verdict can only assist the capital sentencing jury in reaching such a reasoned decision," wrote Justice Raoul Cantero for the court.
Cantero also noted that many scholars and courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have concluded that unanimous verdicts are important to the death sentencing process. Currently in Florida, only judges can impose death sentences, but they are required by law to give great weight to recommendations from juries. It takes a vote of 7-5 or greater to recommend death in a first-degree murder case. The only alternative is life in prison without parole.