Mental and Emotional Maturity to Take Responsibility for Murders

In Gudinas v. State, 693 So. 2d 953 (Fla. 1997), the court held, "Although Gudinas is certainly correct that he had a troubling past and had always been small for his age, there was no evidence presented that he was unable to take responsibility for his acts and appreciate the consequences thereof at the time of the murders." Id. at 967. In that case, we found that there was substantial, competent evidence in the record to support the trial court's finding "that Gudinas was mentally and emotionally mature enough that his age should not be considered as a mitigator." Id.