Juan Carlos Chavez - Appeal Rejected

The Florida Supreme Court rejected another appeal Thursday from a Cuban immigrant sentenced to death for murdering 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce, namesake of a state law that keeps dangerous sexual predators in custody after they finish their prison terms.

The justices ruled 6-0 against Juan Carlos Chavez, 42, on eight separate claims in his appeal.

Jimmy was kidnapped at gunpoint in rural Miami-Dade County after getting off a school bus and then raped and fatally shot 14 years ago.

Since Ryce's death 14 years ago, state lawmakers have passed a law keeping sexual predators in custody after they complete their prison term. The law -- known as the Jimmy Ryce Act – allows a sexual predator who is deemed to be a danger to society to be confined at a civil commitment facility in Acadia.

The state Supreme Court has previously upheld the death sentence for Chavez on direct appeal. Chavez has claimed that his defense attorneys failed to present expert testimony on the differences between the U.S. and Cuban legal systems.

Chavez tried to get his confession thrown out because he said he did not know he had a right to remain silent. He later recanted his confession.

His appellate lawyer Andrea Norgard addressed the justices in oral arguments in February.

In his appeal, Chavez claimed that his trial lawyers told him to give false testimony, that they failed to find a key witness, and failed to consult him on the trial's penalty phase. Chavez also argued that the public defender never obtained expert testimony on his mental health.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

Unless they're dead