PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "On Thursday, Duckett’s defense team issued the following statement: "The stay of execution issued by the Florida Supreme Court today is a significant step toward preventing the irreversible harm that will result if the State of Florida executes an innocent man. James Duckett has steadfastly professed his innocence for the nearly four decades he has been on death row. DNA testing currently underway, as ordered by the circuit court, has the potential to conclusively establish Mr. Duckett’s innocence. Mr. Duckett and his defense team are grateful for the Court’s decision, recognizing the importance of ensuring that the testing proceeds in a careful, thorough, and orderly manner. We remain hopeful that the results will bring long-awaited clarity and justice.”
STORY: "The Florida Supreme Court stays James Duckett execution over DNA testing in murder case,"by Producer Chris Raines, published by News 6 (Orlando) on March 26, 2026.
SUB-HEADING: "Former Mascotte police officer was scheduled to be executed Tuesday;
GIST: "Court documents show Florida’s Supreme Court stayed the execution of James Duckett, as court-ordered DNA testing has not been completed.
Duckett was scheduled to be executed March 31.
At question is a swab from the victim’s underwear.
Documents show Duckett filed a motion for more DNA testing after his death warrant was issued.
The filing shows the state agreed it could make a difference in the case, and the circuit court granted the motion.
That court allowed the state complete control over the location, timing, and method of the testing.
In the court filing, it shows Duckett raised several claims, including that testing results would provide newly-discovered evidence that he is innocent.
Documents show the State has to show the circuit court the status of the testing no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, March 27.
Duckett, a former Mascotte police officer, was set to be executed in the 1987 murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee, according to the death warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Over the past four decades, Duckett has unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and death sentence.
On Thursday, Duckett’s defense team issued the following statement:
“The stay of execution issued by the Florida Supreme Court today is a significant step toward preventing the irreversible harm that will result if the State of Florida executes an innocent man. James Duckett has steadfastly professed his innocence for the nearly four decades he has been on death row. DNA testing currently underway, as ordered by the circuit court, has the potential to conclusively establish Mr. Duckett’s innocence. Mr. Duckett and his defense team are grateful for the Court’s decision, recognizing the importance of ensuring that the testing proceeds in a careful, thorough, and orderly manner. We remain hopeful that the results will bring long-awaited clarity and justice.”
Duckett is the grandfather of Trenton Duckett, the 2-year-old boy who was reported missing from his mother’s Leesburg apartment in 2006 and has never been found.
James Duckett was on Florida’s Death Row at the time his grandson vanished and is not a suspect in the toddler’s disappearance."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan: Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
