Age As An Automatic Factor In Mitigation

In Shellito v. State, 701 So. 2d 837 (Fla. 1997), the Court held: "Whenever a murder is committed by a minor, the mitigating factor of age must be found and weighed but that the weight can be diminished by other evidence showing unusual maturity." Id. at 843. However, where the defendant is not a minor "no per se rule exists which pinpoints a particular age as an automatic factor in mitigation." Id. The existence and weight to be given to this mitigator depends on the evidence presented at trial and the sentencing hearing. See id. For example, this Court has held that age twenty, in and of itself, does not require a finding of the age mitigator. See Garcia v. State, 492 So. 2d 360, 367 (Fla. 1986).