By Ralph De La Cruz
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
On Thursday, a jury in Miami recommended Ana Maria Cardona be sentenced to death. Again.
And really, who could be surprised?
Ana Maria Cardona
Certainly not anyone who was in South Florida in 1990 when the body of her 3-year-old son was found.
He weighed 18 pounds after a lifetime of being starved. His body was twisted and torn from beatings. According to the medical examiner, the final blow came from a baseball bat. His body was dumped in some bushes on Miami Beach.
Her 1991 conviction was overturned in 2002 by the Florida Supreme Court because prosecutors had not revealed that she had given conflicting stories during police interviews. On Thursday, it took all of two hours for a majority of the jury (7-5) to recommend death.
I cheered upon reading the news. Because I lived in Miami in 1990. I remember Baby Lollipop, as little Lazaro became known.
But then I became uneasy with it all.
Because, at a time when even previous proponents of the death penalty are questioning its efficacy, it’s troubling that a person could be sent to her death based on such a tight split decision.
It’s troubling that we get national unanimity on something like marijuana criminalization, but when it comes to executing people, we have a state-by-state jigsaw puzzle.
It’s crazy.
Even the clemency process is multiple choice. The governor has sole authority to grant clemency in 14 states. In others, the governor can get a non-binding recommendation from a board, if he so chooses. In some, the board has total control over clemencies.
Florida is one of eight states where the governor has to get a recommendation of clemency from a board. Although the Florida governor retains appreciable power because he actually sits on the board.
California, where I witnessed an execution in 1996 (see accompanying piece), has basically suspended executions.
Cardona may be one step closer to death today. But she’s still a long way from becoming a dead woman walking.