TALLAHASSEE -- The state supreme court orders a new sentencing for a man convicted in two Pinellas County murders.
Reynaldo Figueroa-Sanabria defended himself during his murder trial, and didn't present mitigating evidence that could have persuaded a jury against capital punishment. The Florida Supreme Court says the trial judge made a mistake, by telling him he had to have a lawyer to present that evidence. That means he gets a new sentencing hearing.
The defendant was convicted of the 2013 murders of Germana Morin and John Travlos, during an apparent robbery on their houseboat in St. Petersburg. Figueroa-Sanabria had been working as the couple's handyman.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
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