NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – The attorney for a man who shot and killed a Nassau County deputy during a traffic stop in 2021, and who was sentenced to death last year, appeared in court on Wednesday to appeal his sentence.
Patrick McDowell’s attorney, Robert Pearce, appeared before the Supreme Court of Florida to request that it vacate McDowell’s death sentence and grant him a life sentence instead. He is also requesting a new penalty phase, in which victim impact evidence will not be presented to the jury.
The first appeal of a death sentence is mandatory in Florida.
During his sentencing trial last year, McDowell, who pleaded guilty to gunning down Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers during a traffic stop, encouraged jurors to recommend the death penalty for him.
“I can’t take away the pain I’ve caused, but I can pay for it. So make me pay for it,” McDowell told the jurors before their near-unanimous vote.
The jury voted 11 to 1 in April to recommend a death sentence.
The sentencing hearing included emotional testimony from Moyers’ family, including his fiancée, brother and mother, about what it was like for them when Moyers died days after the shooting at the hospital.
But Pearce said on Wednesday that emotional statements made by family and colleagues of Moyers made in court likely impaired the jury and led to a death sentence for McDowell, arguing that the victim impact statements are always prejudicial against the defendant.
Pearce said that although the law is clearly defined when it comes to what the jury can consider when deciding on a punishment, allowing emotional statements that speak to the impact made on the community as a result of the crime and not the crime itself is contradictory.
Pearce went so far as to say that the way the law is applied now, the court has “poisoned the well” for every deliberation in a death penalty case in Florida.
Watch McDowell’s full statement in the video below:
During McDowell’s sentencing last year, the courtroom was very quiet and focused on the judge while he was speaking about the mitigating concerns versus the aggravating factors and how he came to his decision of finding the jury’s 11 to 1 decision justified.
Breiana Tole, who pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact for trying to help McDowell escape capture was previously sentenced to three years in prison, followed by three years of probation.
McDowell pleaded guilty to first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, injuring a police dog and eight counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The Supreme Court of Florida will decide on Pearce’s request to appeal McDowell’s sentence. A date has not been set.