McDowell
After less than three hours of deliberation, a Nassau County jury recommended the death penalty for Patrick McDowell. The count was 11-1 Thursday, with a lone juror favoring life in prison.
McDowell, a Jacksonville resident, shot Nassau County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Moyers, 29, during a traffic stop in September 2021. Moyers died from the gunshot wounds two days later. McDowell pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March 2023. He also pleaded guilty to injuring a police dog as well as eight counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.
Before closing arguments last week, McDowell took the stand and confirmed the state’s case, “admit-ting weeks before he planned to kill any law enforcement member who attempted to arrest him,” according to a press release from the State Attorney’s Office. “On the night he killed Moyers, McDowell admitted he lured him to a dark, secluded area to carry this out.”
Even with the jury’s decision for the death penalty, McDowell is permitted to undergo a Spencer hearing, which gives his defense attorneys opportunities to present additional evidence before Fourth Judicial Circuit Judge James H. Daniel delivers a final sentence.
The jury’s decision comes more than two-and-a-half years after McDowell murdered Hilliard resident Moyers.
The trial’s penalty phase originally set for September 2023 was delayed because of a new capital sentencing law that amended Florida State Statute 921.141(2)(c), which allows a judge to impose a death sentence if at least eight jurors determine a death sentence is applicable. Before the change, a unanimous jury vote was necessary.
McDowell had already entered a guilty plea under the old statute, which his defense team supported. Daniel denied the request and jury selection began April 5. The judge also denied a pre-trial motion to change venues March 19.
As early as September 2022, the defendant’s motion to “present victim impact evidence to the court rather than the jury” was also denied, along with a motion to declare sections of 921.14, 922.10 and 922.105 of Florida State Statutes “unconstitutional because electrocution and lethal injection are cruel and unusual punishments,” according to the court document.
McDowell was also denied his motion to “preclude death as a possible punishment,” in addition to other filed motions, including those related to penalty phase jury instruction, and to “modify standard penalty phase jury instruction on “prior violent felony” for the repeat offender.
On April 16, Moyers’ fiancée, Ivy Carter, friend and colleague NCSO Sgt. Nick Carter, parents Tim and Brenda Moyers and brother Jordan Moyers all provided victim impact statements with the jury present.
McDowell’s legal team filed a motion for a mistrial the next day.
“Because the victim impact presentation was so immensely emotional and inflammatory, a curative instruction will not suffice to cure the impact upon the jurors. A mistrial is necessary to ensure a just and fair trial,” according to the court filing.
Daniel verbally denied the motion during the trial, SAO spokesman David Chapman emailed.
ksciullo@nassaucountyrecord.com