Wade Wilson Trial: Florida death penalty explained
After 5 years at the Lee County Jail, convicted killer Wade Wilson's new address could be death row. This coming week's jury decision will determine his fate.
Wade Wilson, 30, of Fort Myers, has been in custody at the Lee County Jail in Fort Myers since his Oct. 8, 2019, arrest and now faces the penalty phase in court.
Expected to last up to two days, the jury will determine beginning Monday whether it recommends death.
Wade Wilson was convicted on June 12, of the first-degree killings of Kristine Melton, 35, and Diane Ruiz, 43. In 2019, he narrated the murders during a phone call made to his biological father who then turned him in to the authorities.
Who was Christine Melton?Cape Coral murder victim Kristine Melton was best friend, cat mom
Who was Diane Ruiz?Cape Coral murder victim Diane Ruiz was loving mom, hardworking
Who is Wade Wilson?Guilty: Wade Wilson convicted of all counts in 2019 murders of Kristine Melton, Diane Ruiz
If Wilson is sentenced to the death penalty, he will join eight other men from Lee and Collier counties. Although Wilson technically has two first-degree murder convictions, he would automatically be eligible for death row because of his first murder charge.
What is the death penalty process in Florida?
Men on death row are housed at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. There are 276 people on death row in the state with 274 of them being male.
Specifically in Lee County, inmates go through central intake at the Lee County Jail upon arrest. From the downtown Jail at the courthouse, inmates can be transferred to the core facility on any day depending on their level of sentencing.
The core facility is where main operating services are provided.
If a prosecutor intends for the death penalty sentence, the prosecutor must give notice and file the notice within 45 days after arraignment.
The death penalty laws vary from state to state, however, Florida's death row provides two means of execution: lethal injection or electrocution. Either will be administered at the execution chamber at the Florida State Prison. Previously, executions were completed by counties instead of the state as a whole.
Inmates on death row are placed in Death Watch cells prior to execution as they wait for the governor to sign their death warrant. Inmates are served meals three times a day with the option to request a last meal. Showers are allowed every other day and all inmates remain in handcuffs unless in the exercise yard, shower, or individual cell.
Visitors must be pre-approved and can only visit during set hours.
What does life in prison look like in Florida?
If a jury doesn't recommend death, Wilson faces an automatic life sentence.
Stated by the Florida Statues Section 782.04, for an inmate to be sentenced to life in prison their crime must consist of the unlawful killing of a human.
If this is Wilson's sentence, he would spend the rest of his natural life in prison without the possibility of parole because of the severity of the crime.
How many jurors in Florida must make a death recommendation?
In Florida, a judge may impose the death sentence if eight of 12 jurors agree. Most states require the jury to give a unanimous jury verdict for the death penalty.
"If eligible and the jury has at least 8 votes for a death sentence, the recommendation must be death. If there are less than 8 votes for death, the recommendation must be for life without parole" according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
People opposed to the bill explained that Florida has the highest amount of death penalty cases in the nation.
Tiffany Knight is a reporter for The Naples Daily News and Fort Myers News-Press. You may reach her by email at tknight@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Possible death penalty in Wade Wilson trial
