Shue v. State

COBB, Judge.

Appellant was tried by a jury and convicted of two counts of sexual battery committed upon two girls eleven years of age or younger in violation of section 794.011(2), Florida Statutes (1975). The jury returned two verdicts of guilty and rendered an advisory sentence of life imprisonment. The trial court imposed a sentence of death.

Appellant appealed to the Florida Supreme Court where he contended, relying upon Coke v. Georgia,1 that the punishment of death for the crime of rape was disproportionate to the crime and, therefore, unconstitutional. The Florida Supreme Court did not…