Jury recommends death penalty for fatal robbery

BARTOW, Fla. (AP) - A Polk County jury has recommended that a Winter Haven man with a history of robberies should be executed for fatally shooting a convenience store clerk.

The jury voted 7-5 in favor of putting 28-year-old Jamail Hogan to death on Tuesday. A circuit judge will make the final decision, but Florida law requires judges to give jury recommendations great weight.

The same jury found Hogan guilty last week of first-degree murder in the 2005 death of Remesh Desai and attempted armed robbery.

Hogan's attorneys said that his crime was not bad enough to warrant the death penalty, but prosecutors argued that Hogan had a history of violent crimes.

Attorneys will provide the judge with additional arguments at a March 4 hearing.

Source : Associated Press