JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Lawyers for Donald Smith will have one more chance to try and keep him off death row at a Spencer hearing Wednesday morning.
A Spencer hearing is an opportunity for the defendant’s lawyers to present additional evidence to the judge before a sentence is entered.
Last month, a jury recommenced Smith, a serial sex offender, be put to death for the brutal kidnapping, rape and murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle back in 2013.
A jury of eight women and four men found him guilty of the crime and returned a verdict of death in February.
Florida began requiring unanimous jury verdicts in 2017 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state's death penalty law was unconstitutional.
Prosecutor Mark Caliel declined to speculate on what the judge would do at Wednesday's hearing.
“It will be Judge Cooper’s decision at that point in time as to what the appropriate sentence should be. It’s really inappropriate for us to forecast what the judge will do. We are confident that we believe that the jury’s verdict was appropriate and will be upheld by the court.”
The judge is not expected to issue her order for days or even weeks after Wednesday's hearing.
