Does the Right to Autonomy Apply at the Sentencing Stage of Trial?

In McCoy v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court concluded that a criminal defendant has the right to autonomy, i.e., the right “to decide on the objective of his defense.” Pursuant to this right, a defendant decides whether “to admit guilt in the hope of gaining mercy at the sentencing stage, or to maintain his innocence, leaving it to the State to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” In its recent opinion in Sexton v. State, 2024 WL 4156989 (Fla. 2024), the Supreme Court of Florida answered an interesting follow-up question: Does the right to autonomy apply at the sentencing stage of trial?

In Sexton, John Sexton was convicted of first-degree murder and given a death sentence based on a 10-2 jury vote. A subsequent remand in the wake of Hurst v. Floria led to a new penalty phase before a judge after Sexton waived his right to a jury. At that new penalty phase, the judge called Sexton's mitigation specialist as a court witness and eventually re-imposed a death sentence.

On appeal, Sexton claimed that this violated his right to autonomy under McCoy. The Supreme Court of Floria dealt with this issue as follows:

Sexton next argues the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel and to control his defense by calling his defense mitigation specialist as a court witness. We agree the trial court erred in calling O'Shea, who was part of the defense team, as a witness over Sexton's objection. But we find the error to have been harmless.

Sexton cites McCoy v. Louisiana for the proposition that this kind of error is structural and not subject to harmless error review....But McCoy involved a defendant's “right to insist that counsel refrain from admitting guilt, even when counsel's experience[ ]-based view is that confessing guilt offers the defendant the best chance to avoid the death penalty.”...Sexton's guilt was not at issue in the proceeding below, his conviction having already been affirmed by this Court. The mitigating evidence presented dealt with Sexton's bipolar disorder, excessive drinking, and explosive episodes of anger—most of which had been introduced into the record at his first sentencing proceeding—and not his guilt or innocence. And so, mindful that the trial court's error must have been harmful to be reversible, we proceed....

It was error to call O'Shea as a court witness. O'Shea was not an independent, special counsel appointed by the trial court; she was a member of the defense team. Indeed, the trial judge recognized that “O'Shea is part of the Defense.” While the court could have chosen to order a presentence investigation report (PSI) or considered mitigation from the original sentencing, it could not, against Sexton's wishes, commandeer his mitigation expert and compel her to testify about mitigation during the penalty phase.

But this error does not require reversal, because “there is no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the death sentence.”...Although the court recounted O'Shea’s testimony in its sentencing order, it did not rely on her testimony—or even cite it—when analyzing the specific mitigating factors that defense counsel was pursuing. Nor did the court consider O'Shea’s testimony when establishing aggravating circumstances. Moreover, the trial court determined that Parlato's murder was highly aggravated, and gave that and two other aggravating factors great weight. 

This is an interesting opinion, which could be read in two ways: (1) the right to autonomy doesn't apply at sentencing hearings; or (2) the right to autonomy only applies to admitting guilt. I think that the latter reading could be consistent with the language of McCoy. On the other hand, I don't think that the former reading could be consistent with McCoy given the possibility of an appeal. In other words, if the defendant wanted to appeal and claim his innocence during that appeal, his attorney or someone from his team acknowledging his guilt during a sentencing hearing would seem to be a clear violation of the right to autonomy.

-CM