NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Last month Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 450 which will no longer require juries to agree unanimously to recommend death sentences. It reduces the number of jurors needed to recommend a death sentence from 12 to 8, which is to the lowest threshold of any state with capital punishment.
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McDowell is accused of shooting and killing deputy Joshua Moyers during a traffic stop on September 2021, in Callahan. He was also accused of shooting a JSO K9 deputy.
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He has been charged with first-degree murder, 8 counts of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer and 1 count of use of a deadly weapon on a police canine.
McDowell plead guilty to those charges in March.
He did not appear in the Nassau County court this morning, and the hearing was brief, about 10 minutes long.
Judge James H. Daniel and defense attorney Slan Chipperfield discussed how to interpret the new death penalty law and have set a new hearing date for Jul. 26 at 10:30 a.m. on the new legislation and whether it should apply.
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