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The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the death sentence of a man who murdered a 13-year-old girl in 2008 in a Panama City motel room.
Justices rejected arguments by Matthew Caylor, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery in the killing of Melinda Hinson.
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The girl’s body was found under a bed in the Valu-Lodge Motel. The girl’s family had been living at the motel, and Caylor had stayed there before the murder.
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The Florida Supreme Court in 2017 ordered a new sentencing proceeding for Caylor as an outgrowth of a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
During a 2021 sentencing hearing, Caylor waived certain rights, including the right to a jury, according to Thursday’s opinion.
Later, however, Caylor sought to withdraw the waiver of a right to a jury — a request that a Bay County circuit judge denied. The judge sentenced Caylor again to death.
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Caylor’s appeal to the Supreme Court, in part, challenged the decision to deny the request for a jury.
But the Supreme Court backed the circuit judge’s finding that the request was made in “bad faith” to cause a delay.
“Because there is substantial evidence supporting the trial court’s findings, we conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Caylor’s request to withdraw his waiver of the penalty phase jury,” said Thursday’s opinion, written by Justice Renatha Francis.
Caylor, now 49, is an inmate at Union Correctional Institution.
