ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — HWhen the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, should get the final say in Florida death penalty cases, it complicated the case against a local man accused of killing his girlfriend’s daughter.
Sanel Saint-Simon, 44, is accused of beating 16-year-old Alexandria Chery to death in 2014 and dumping her body in the woods near the Osceola-Polk county line.
Investigators believe the crime was premeditated.
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Prosecutors want to pursue the death penalty in the case, but the Supreme Court ruling handed down last week raised questions about whether a death sentence would hold up legally.
During a hearing Tuesday, Orange County Circuit Judge Renee Roche granted the prosecution’s motion to delay the trial against Saint-Simon, which was set to start in March.
The trial is now scheduled for late July to allow for the Florida legislature to address the Supreme Court decision.
Prosecutor Ryan Vescio expects Saint-Simon to face the death penalty when he goes to trial.
“We’re confident that the legislature is going to take the necessary steps to amend the statute to be in line with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week,” he said. “And we do believe the death penalty is still a legal and valid sentence in Florida.”
Saint-Simon’s attorneys, though, argued against the delay and asked the judge to go ahead with the trial as planned.
“Our position is that the sole sentence that Mr. Sanel Saint-Simon can face at this point is life (in prison) and we would be ready to proceed at trial as this being a life case,” defense attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said.
Chery’s family was disappointed by the delay, and while Vesico empathized, he said his office wanted to have everything in order before going forward.
“It sometimes takes a lot of time in capital cases to make sure both sides are following the law, so I can understand why they would be disappointed,” he said.