Criminal Defendant's Physical and Psychological Abuse When He Was a Child

In Nibert v. State, 574 So. 2d 1059 (Fla. 1990), the Court found that the trial court erred when it found the defendant's physical and psychological abuse was "possible" mitigation, but did not consider it in sentencing because the abuse had taken place when the defendant was a child. See id. at 1062. The court concluded that the trial court had improperly rejected the mitigation, specifically noting that "the fact that a defendant had suffered through more than a decade of psychological and physical abuse during the defendant's formative childhood and adolescent years is in no way diminished by the fact that the abuse finally came to an end." Id.