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Log in Subscribe today for full access on your desktop, tablet, and mobile device. Subscribe Now Already a subscriber, but don't have a login? Activate your digital access. 54 Share This Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about FacebookEmailTwitterGoogle+LinkedInPinterest Pensacola murder may reshape death penalty The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing whether the death penalty should require a unanimous jury decision in Florida Loading… Post to Facebook ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Pensacola murder may reshape death penalty _________________ ____________________________________________________________ The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing whether the death penal ____________________________________________________________ Check out this story on pnj.com: http://on.pnj.com/1Lrh4aV_ {# IFRAME: http://api.recaptcha.net/noscript?k=6Lf7fuESAAAAAJ3_KMIDbkQySsEE0vMkLXU kq4eY #} CancelSend Sent! A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. 7 Join the Conversation To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Subscribe Today Log In Subscribed, but don't have a login? Activate your digital access. Pensacola murder may reshape death penalty [635591058482880512-PNJBrd-01-17-2015-NewsJournal-1-A001-2015-01-16-IMG -Kevin-Robinson.jpg-1-1-G39MQ3NV-L550168184-IMG-Kevin-Robinson.jpg-1-1- G39MQ3NV.jpg] Kevin Robinson, krobinson4@pnj.com 12:10 p.m. CDT October 13, 2015 635802400077706347-Timothy-Hurst Buy Photo In 2012, Timothy Hurst was sentenced to the death penalty Thursday for the brutal 1998 murder of Popeyes manager Cynthia Harrison.(Photo: Ben Twingley/btwingley@pnj.com) Buy Photo 9 CONNECTTWEETLINKEDIN 7 COMMENTEMAILMORE A brutal Pensacola murder case may end up setting a new standard for how Florida handles the death penalty. Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in the case of Timothy Hurst, a former fast food worker found guilty of tying up his manager in a Popeyes freezer and stabbing her to death. A jury recommended 7-5 that Hurst be executed, and a judge sentenced him to death. Now, Hurst is challenging the process as unconstitutional. Florida is one of a few states where judges issue the death penalty and juries play a strictly advisory role. Florida is the only state where the jury doesn't have to be unanimous or explain what factors weighed in their decision. The state's policy seems to go against a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said juries should decide both when the death penalty will be imposed and what aggravating factors make the death penalty appropriate. Hurst's attorneys argued that Florida policies violate the the Sixth or Eighth amendments. "Of the 35 death penalty states, only Florida permits imposition of a death sentence without a jury concluding that either,1., at least one specified aggravating factor is present or ,2., that a death sentence is warranted," Hurst's attorney wrote. "Twenty seven of these states require both findings. Florida requires neither." Hurst's counsel wrote that jurors recommended capital punishment by only the slimmest of margins and without any explanation of their votes. He said it's possible they weren't even considering the same aggravating factors. "This possibility hardly inspires confidence that Florida has any clue what the jury's vote meant in this case," the document said. "The jury's vote gave no clear voice of the community that death was justified." In 1998, Hurst was an employee at the Popeyes on Nine Mile Road. Witnesses testified Hurst bound his manager, 28-year-old Cynthia Harrison, with electrical tape, slashed her with a box cutter more than 60 times and left her body in a freezer. Hurst was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2000, and a jury recommended death 11-1. Hurst won an appeal and re-sentencing because his counsel was not allowed to present evidence that Hurst may have a mental disability. He was sentenced to death again in 2012. Public Defender Bruce Miller said the Supreme Court's ruling on the case could have far-reaching impacts on all the state's capital cases. "In virtually every case where the state sought death, the defense counsel has routinely found Florida's sentencing is unconstitutional," Miller said. "It's overdue that the U.S. Supreme Court decided to take on this issue. Defense attorney's have been making this claim since 2002, and the legislature has refused to act." 9 CONNECTTWEETLINKEDIN 7 COMMENTEMAILMORE Read or Share this story: http://on.pnj.com/1Lrh4aV TOP VIDEOS * Fact check: Candidates spin points in 6th GOP debate Fact check: Candidates spin points in 6th GOP debate 02:26 * Cox transitions to all-digital TV Cox transitions to all-digital TV 02:17 * Making hair great again Making hair great again 00:27 * 3 winning tickets sold in record Powerball jackpot 3 winning tickets sold in record Powerball jackpot 00:52 * Video: Protesters show at Trump rally Video: Protesters show at Trump rally 01:00 * Video: Trump protesters demonstrate Video: Trump protesters demonstrate 01:02 * First things you should do if you win Powerball jackpot First things you should do if you win Powerball jackpot 01:47 * Convicted ex-cop who held gun to man's head 'not sorry' Convicted ex-cop who held gun to man's head 'not sorry' 01:12 * $900M Powerball Jackpot: What you can and can't buy $900M Powerball Jackpot: What you can and can't buy 01:47 * Powerball jackpot climbs to $900M hours before drawing Powerball jackpot climbs to $900M hours before drawing 00:50 MORE STORIES More Stories * Joseph Lafreniere protests peacefully outside the Bay Center before the @realDonaldTrump rally tonight. #pnjtrump Trump protest crowd small but proud Jan. 13, 2016, 10:55 p.m. * Pensacola Trump Rally 2016 Trump wins over crowd Jan. 13, 2016, 11:09 p.m. * Donald Trump speaks to thousands of his supporters during a rally in Mobile, Ala., last year. 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