WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Out of the 100 executions in Florida since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, few were convicted murderers from Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.
Palm Beach County is Florida's third most populous county, yet 12 counties, including Santa Rosa, which has about one-eighth the population of Palm Beach County, have had more killers executed in the past half-century.
At a Delray Beach convenience store in 1977, two men abducted a 19-year-old college student at knifepoint, and drove off, later raping and murdering her.
A year later, a jury convicted Nollie Lee Martin of first-degree murder in the case. A judge sentenced him to death, and after 14 years in prison, Martin was executed in the electric chair.
He is the only killer convicted in Palm Beach County to be executed in the last 46 years.
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"The death penalty is skewed in geography," notes Frank de la Torre, a former public defender and professor of criminal justice at Florida Atlantic University.
Contact 5 showed De la Torre how Florida's most populous counties have had a handful of people convicted in their courts executed while Palm Beach County had just one.
EXECUTIONS BY COUNTY: 1977-PRESENT
- Miami-Dade 16
- Duval 11
- Orange 9
- Pinellas 8
- Hillsborough 6
- Broward 3
- Palm Beach County 1
"In my opinion, it has to come down to juries," De la Torre said. "People in Palm Beach County are more liberal than people in these other counties."
Although people are more conservative in the Treasure Coast and in Okeechobee Counties, there have been very few executions.
EXECUTIONS BY COUNTY: 1977-PRESENT
- Palm Beach 1
- St. Lucie 1
- Martin 1
- Indian River 1
- Okeechobee 0
Contact 5 also broke down Florida executions by race.
EXECUTIONS BY RACE: 1977-PRESENT
- White 64
- Black 27
- Hispanic 8
- Native American 1
"Race does matter," De la Torre said.
The majority of those executed in Florida are white: 62 men and two women.
"What is important is the race of the victim," De la Torre points out. "So, if you live in Florida and you murder a white person, you're much more likely to get the death penalty than if you murder an African American."
Death penalty statistics could change soon, as Florida lawmakers consider a plan to allow juries to vote for the death penalty by an 8-4 margin instead of jurors needing to be unanimous.
