Florida’s Supreme Court Retreats From Opinion on Domestic Violence

The Florida Supreme Court has retreated from an opinion that said a death sentence could be overturned if a murder was committed during a domestic dispute.

Advocates for domestic violence victims charged that the court’s original Sept. 5 decision was typical of a tendency to treat domestic crimes less seriously than others.

The justices issued a revised opinion last week deleting all references to domestic disputes in the reversal of Victor Klokoc’s death sentence for the 1988 murder of his 19-year-old daughter.

Testimony indicated that Klokoc, who pleaded guilty, shot his daughter to spite his wife, who had left him after years of abuse.

In its original ruling the court agreed with Klokoc, who argued that the death sentence was disproportionate because capital punishment was not ordered in previous slayings arising from domestic disputes.