Defense for man who killed Nassau County deputy seeks to dismiss Florida’s new death penalty law

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Action News Jax now has the 298-page motion filed by the defense team for Patrick McDowell.

McDowell pleaded guilty in March to shooting and killing Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers, nearly two years after the crime.

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The motion looks to dismiss Florida’s new death penalty law, which lowers the requirement of a unanimous jury decision for the death penalty to just 8 jurors. McDowell’s defense team argues in the motion that the law in place at the time of the crime should be the only one that matters in this case, citing the “Ex Post Facto Clause.”

Action News Jax law & safety expert Dale Carson has decades of experience as both former law enforcement and now an attorney and tells Action News Jax the defense’s motion, in this case, falls in line with typical court procedure.

“It’s a required move by competent defense attorneys,” Carson said. “It’s settled to law that at the time the event occurred, the law at that time is what applies to the case.”

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Carson says that McDowell still likely faces an uphill battle against any jury, due to the nature of the crime committed.

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“The one aggravating circumstance here is of course, this was a law enforcement officer on duty at the time,” Carson said. “And he was engaged in his responsibility to the community when he was killed. So that will obviously have an impact on the jurors and their decision process.”

Now, the next step, in this case, is a hearing for the motion now set for July 26 at 10:30 a.m.

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