William Reaves v. Florida

Mr. Reaves swore an oath to defend the United States Constitution at just 20 years old before he was sent to defend this Country in Vietnam. When he returned home and committed the crime for which the State’s seeks his death, he was repeatedly denied the rights guaranteed under the same Constitution he swore to defend. This Court is called on to provide the relief guaranteed by the Constitution. The Petition presents these questions.

1. Whether the Constitution’s promise of due process is violated when state-appointed clemency counsel forecloses a death-sentenced defendant from participating in the preparation and presentation of his own clemency case to the clemency board, and refuses to inform the defendant of the presentation submitted on his behalf.

2. Whether the Florida Supreme Court’s repeated failure to take into account the diverse frailties of human kind in capital sentencing by consistently denigrating the force of proffered mitigating evidence, including significant mitigation of a combat veteran, violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of arbitrary, capricious and excessive punishment.