NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – The case against Nassau County deputy killer, Patrick McDowell, is once again set to go before a judge Monday.
This comes ahead of McDowell’s sentencing trial which is currently scheduled to start in April.
McDowell pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Deputy Joshua Moyers during a traffic stop in 2021. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against McDowell.
In late February, McDowell attended a court hearing in his case, sitting just feet away from Deputy Moyers’ family.
Dozens of people have been added to the list of people to speak on McDowell’s behalf during his sentencing trial including doctors, McDowell’s friends from his time in the military, and even his 13-year-old son.
A newer court document shows his team has added yet another doctor to the list.
And on the state’s side, prosecutors highlight information from both McDowell’s probation officer and a clinical psychologist.
But what’s really been at the heart of this story is how the death penalty jury standard will be applied in McDowell’s case, as timing appears to be a central factor in all of this.
When Deputy Moyers was shot and killed in September 2021, a death sentence required a unanimous 12-0 jury recommendation.
McDowell entered his guilty plea in March 2023. However, a month later, the death penalty law changed significantly. The new jury recommendation requirement dropped to 8-4.
There haven’t been any rulings over which standard to follow. Attorneys went back and forth at the last hearing.
“With Mr. McDowell, when he entered a plea of guilty when the law was 12 to 0 he incurred the death sentence only if a jury voted 12 to 0,” McDowell’s Attorney Alan Chipperfield said back in February.
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Prosecutor Mark Caliel with the State Attorney’s Office disagreed and argued this is simply about procedure.
“None of the aggravating circumstances have changed only the procedural method that is utilized by the courts and the jury in reaching a recommendation in your honorable court as to what an appropriate punishment is in this case,” Caliel said.
McDowell’s defense attorneys have said at some point, they plan to file a motion for a change of venue, which means the sentencing trial would be moved somewhere else if granted. The earliest it will start is early April.
The hearing on Monday is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
