USA - Florida. The Florida Supreme Court tossed out the death sentence of Michael Shellito, 37, White

The Florida Supreme Court unanimously tossed out the death sentence of Michael Shellito, 37, White. Justices found that an attorney for Shellito failed to properly raise issues about the defendant's mental-health problems before Shellito was sentenced to Death Row. Justices sent the case back to a lower court for new sentencing proceedings. Shellito was convicted in the August 31, 1994 shooting death of 18-year-old Sean Hathorne.  Shellito was 19 years old at the time of the crime. In the ruling, justices pointed to evidence suggesting that Shellito might have suffered from brain damage and possibly had been abused and neglected as a child. Such "mitigation" evidence could have been used to try to prevent the imposition of the death penalty.