KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Court TV) — Stephan Sterns is doing all he can to prevent a potential death sentence as his attorneys filed a series of motions this week seeking to have the penalty struck on the basis that it’s unconstitutional.
Stephan Sterns was charged two days after 13-year-old Madeline Soto disappeared. (Osceola County Sheriff’s Office)
Prosecutors are seeking a death sentence for Sterns for the murder of 13-year-old Madeline Soto, his girlfriend’s daughter. Sterns is separately facing dozens of charges that he sexually abused Soto after more than 1,500 photos and videos were found on his phone. The two cases are being tried separately, and Sterns is scheduled to stand trial for the sex crimes next month.
Sterns’ attorneys in the murder case filed three separate motions on Thursday seeking to have the death penalty disqualified as a potential punishment, arguing it’s unconstitutional. All three motions argue that different aspects of the 1996 Florida statute that outline aggravating factors are overly vague and subject to be applied in an “arbitrary and inconsistent manner.”
READ MORE | ‘I didn’t start it’: Stephan Sterns talks about Madeline Soto
Among the aggravating factors prosecutors are expected to introduce are Soto’s age, Sterns’ relationship with her as an authority figure and the alleged sexual abuse (which would serve as a prior conviction if Sterns is found guilty on the charges ahead of the murder trial). One of Sterns’ motions notes that there is nothing to prevent a conviction from being applied as an aggravating factor, “even if that conviction arises from the same criminal episode as the capital felony, and even if the capital and other charges are tried together.”
Sterns’ legal team filed a separate motion in limine in his murder case asking for all victim impact evidence to be proffered outside of the jury’s presence. The motion asks for the judge to determine “not only whether the evidence is appropriate under the statute authorizing it, but that the witnesses themselves are emotionally capable of maintaining appropriate decorum before the jury, so as to avoid unfairly and unconstitutionally inflaming the jury and causing prejudice to the Defendant.”
Prosecutors in Sterns’ sexual assault case have not filed an intent to seek the death penalty case. A 2023 Florida law allows the state to pursue capital punishment if an adult is convicted of sexually battering a child under age 12.
No hearing date has been set on the motions. Sterns’ murder trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 25, 2025.
