The Trial Court Excuses Juror When She Stated That She Did Not Support Death Penalty

In Conde v. State, 860 So. 2d 930 (Fla. 2003), the court upheld the decision of the trial court to excuse a juror for cause where the juror initially stated that she did not support the death penalty and repeatedly expressed significant doubt as to whether she would ever be able to recommend the death penalty even though she later said that she might consider the death penalty after defense counsel provided extreme examples, such as the torture and mutilation of a small child. See id. at 942-43; See also: Morrison v. State, 818 So. 2d 432, 442 (Fla. 2002) (affirming excusal of juror who stated he was not sure he could follow the law and impose the death penalty but expressed a belief in capital punishment in the limited circumstance when a person "was in my home, [and] killed my children"); Hartley v. State, 686 So. 2d 1316, 1322 (Fla. 1996) (affirming for cause challenge where juror stated that there were very few, if any, situations in which he would recommend the death penalty). Similar to Conde, Morrison, and Hartley, the answers of juror 407 here indicated that his overall views on capital punishment would "prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath." Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 424, 105 S. Ct. 844, 83 L. Ed. 2d 841 (1985).