The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in the infamous case of Ana Maria Cardona, who was found guilty of killing her three-year-old son Lazaro "Baby Lollipops" Figueroa.
"If we agree with you it is a reversal for a whole new trial, so these are big deal issues which I'm sure you are aware of," said Justice Barbara Pariente.
Back in 2011, Cardona received the death penalty after she was found guilty of torturing and killing her son in 1990 and discarding his body outside a Miami Beach mansion.
During the trial's closing arguments, the prosecutor repeatedly called for "Justice for Lazaro."
Cardona's public defender Andrew Stanton says that was not appropriate language.
"This specific kind of thing, conveying for justice for the victim or the victim's family is nothing but an inflammatory statement designed to arouse the jurors passions to keep them from thinking about the actual issues in the case," Stanton argued.
Justice Peggy Quince found weight in Stanton's argument.
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"It just seems to me that this prosecutor was pretty much arguing the case not based on the evidence that was presented in the case, but really playing to the emotions of the jury," Quince said.
And that is not allowed, according to trial rules.
Cardona's compliant spells out nine errors, from prosecutorial misconduct to personal attacks on Cardona, as reasons to overturn her conviction.
