The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Samuel L. Smithers, rejecting his claim that his age—72—renders execution unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
In a per curiam opinion issued Wednesday, the Court affirmed the lower court’s summary denial of Smithers’ motion to vacate his two death sentences for the 1996 murders of Cristy Cowan and Denise Roach. Smithers remains under an active death warrant signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on September 12, 2025.
Smithers argued that executing elderly inmates violates both the U.S. Constitution and Florida’s equivalent provision. However, the justices dismissed the claim on procedural and constitutional grounds.
The Court found the motion untimely under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851, ruling that Smithers’ argument became “ripe” when he turned 65—not when his death warrant was signed.
Additionally, the Court cited Florida’s conformity clause, which requires the state’s interpretation of cruel and unusual punishment to align with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
“No opinion of the United States Supreme Court or this Court has held that the elderly are categorically exempt from execution,” the ruling stated, referencing Roper v. Simmons (2005), which bans executions only for offenders under 18 at the time of their crimes.
The opinion also reaffirmed recent precedent from Gudinas v. State (2025), noting that Florida courts are “precluded from interpreting” the Eighth Amendment to exempt those over 18 from capital punishment.
Smithers, a former Hillsborough County water plant supervisor, has been on death row for nearly three decades for killing two women and dumping their bodies in a pond near his Plant City home.
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