Death penalty resentencing begins for killer of St. Lucie Sheriff Sgt. Gary Morales

FORT PIERCE — Eleven years after Eriese Tisdale gunned down St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Morales following a traffic stop, a new jury is being seated to decide whether he should again be sentenced to death or to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A 12-year veteran officer, Morales, 35, was found dead inside his patrol car on Naylor Terrace, south of Edwards Road, in Fort Pierce on Feb. 28, 2013.

Tisdale, then 25, used a Glock handgun to fire seven shots at Morales , striking him in the head, neck and arm.  He fled in his car, but security video from a business on Oleander Avenue showed officers swooping in for Tisdale’s takedown arrest after a deputy used a traffic maneuver that forced him off the road.

Prosecutors at his 2015 trial said Tisdale killed Morales because Tisdale knew he was a felon with a gun in his car, and he had a suspended driver’s license.

In court Monday, Tisdale, 37, dressed in a light blue shirt, striped tie and slacks, urged a judge and state prosecutors “to find some kind of way … if we can just end all of this, if we can give me a life sentence.”

“A life sentence, I mean I’m going to die one day anyway,” Tisdale said as he sat just feet away from Morales’ parents and wife in court.  “So, to bring this - to continue to open up these wounds that are so traumatic.”

Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman though, interrupted Tisdale and quickly dismissed the request as prosecutors and defense lawyers prepared to quiz prospective jurors for a resentencing proceeding granted in 2018 on appeal after a different jury in 2015 convicted him of first-degree murder of a police officer and other felonies.

That same jury later voted 9 to 3 in favor of execution, which satisfied a mandate that a majority of jurors agree to advise a death sentence.

In April 2016, when Tisdale’s death sentence was imposed, Morales' family members - parents, wife and brothers - packed into a courtroom with dozens of uniformed police officers to hear a judge sentence him to death.

Why is Tisdale being sentenced again?

Tisdale was housed on Florida’s death row until the Florida Supreme Court in 2018 ruled he must receive a new penalty phase proceeding because of changes in the law that at the time required a jury to vote unanimously in favor of death before a judge could impose the sentence.

From the time of his trial, the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s Supreme Court issued a flurry of death penalty rulings that set Tisdale’s case on a six-year legal rollercoaster ride as Florida amended the death penalty law requiring that at least 10 jurors vote in favor of death, which was later amended to require unanimity, and last year was changed again to require an 8-to-4 supermajority to recommend the death penalty.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and other lawmakers pushed for the changes after a jury in the Parkland school shooter trial failed to vote unanimously for the death penalty and a life sentence was imposed.

This issue of how many jurors must vote in favor of death to make the recommendation was litigated for months in the Tisdale case until Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman in February ruled this jury will proceed under the state’s 8-to-4 supermajority threshold.

Penalty phase do-over

Court clerks have issued about a thousand jury summons to narrow a pool to 300 to select a panel of 12 with two alternates, court records show.

Jurors who filed into Mirman’s courtroom Monday were told Tisdale’s first-degree murder conviction isn’t being challenged; the only deliberations will be to determine his punishment.

Monday morning, Chief Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell, who is prosecuting Tisdale with Assistant State Attorney David Dodd, asked a panel of 15 prospective jurors a series of questions about crime and punishment and whether each person could follow the law as it relates to the death penalty.

“If you think you can’t follow the law, now is the time to tell us,” Gosnell told a group of nine men and six women.

Jury selection is expected to continue all week with attorneys questioning groups of 50 in morning and afternoon sessions. Prosecutors are expected to begin presenting evidence following the Labor Day holiday break. The proceeding could last up to three weeks, records show.

Opinion: State officials had a plan for golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson park. Was the fix in?

Treasure Coast high school volleyball: Players, teams and storylines to know for 2024

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of " Uncertain Terms ," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com . If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Death penalty resentencing begins for killer of St. Lucie Sheriff Sgt. Gary Morales