PASSAGE OF THE DAY: Duckett’s attorneys appealed Welke’s order Thursday to the state Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office filed a motion asking justices to vacate the stay of execution. The Supreme Court did not immediately rule on the state’s motion. But separately, it directed both sides to file briefs by April 8 in the appeal of Welke’s order — after the original execution window set by DeSantis expires. “The Florida Supreme Court wants to hear more information about why Jim Duckett is requesting access to the data underlying his recent DNA test results,” the group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in a post on its website. “They have given his defense team until next Wednesday to file this, meaning that the window the state gave themselves to carry out the execution will expire. Jim Duckett is not at risk of execution in the immediate future.”
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The Florida Supreme Court wants to hear more information about why Jim Duckett is requesting access to the data underlying his recent DNA test results,” the group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in a post on its website. “They have given his defense team until next Wednesday to file this, meaning that the window the state gave themselves to carry out the execution will expire. Jim Duckett is not at risk of execution in the immediate future.” The Supreme Court’s decision to grant a stay of execution was highly unusual. Florida set a modern-era record by executing 19 inmates last year and has executed four this year. In almost all of those cases, the condemned killers unsuccessfully sought stays of execution. If justices rule that the execution can move forward, Duckett’s attorneys could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court."
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STORY: "DNA dispute keeps former police officer's execution on hold, by Reporter Jim Saunders, published by State Affairs Florida, on April 4, 2016. (Jim Saunders is the managing editor at State Affairs Florida. He has covered state government and politics in Florida since 1998. Before joining State Affairs, Saunders served as executive editor of The News Service of Florida. Previously, he worked as Tallahassee bureau chief for The Florida Times-Union, The Daytona Beach News-Journal and Health News Florida. A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native, Saunders graduated from Northwestern University and worked as a reporter at The Blade newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. He joined the Times-Union in 1990, working in St. Johns County and Jacksonville before becoming Tallahassee bureau chief.)
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KEY POINTS:
- Florida's plan to execute James Duckett is on hold due to DNA testing issues
- Governor Ron DeSantis set an execution window of March 31 to April 7
- Florida set a record by executing 19 inmates last year.
GIST: "Florida’s plan to execute a former police officer convicted of murdering an 11-year-old girl in 1987 remained on hold Friday as legal wrangling continued over DNA testing.
At a minimum, a period set by Gov. Ron DeSantis to carry out the execution will expire Tuesday, leaving unclear when James Duckett would be put to death by lethal injection if courts approve.
DeSantis in February signed a death warrant for Duckett, 68, who was convicted of murdering Teresa McAbee in Lake County. Duckett, a police officer in the community of Mascotte, also was convicted of raping the girl, whose body was found in a lake.
“The results of the testing have now been reported, and no further testing remains to be done, nor is further testing possible,” Welke wrote. “Moreover, no testimony or reasoning was presented as to how the information sought by defense could lead to defendant’s exoneration. Even if the test results could be brought into doubt, this would not generate new evidence on which defendant’s actual innocence claim could rest.”
Duckett’s attorneys appealed Welke’s order Thursday to the state Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office filed a motion asking justices to vacate the stay of execution.
The Supreme Court did not immediately rule on the state’s motion. But separately, it directed both sides to file briefs by April 8 in the appeal of Welke’s order — after the original execution window set by DeSantis expires.
“The Florida Supreme Court wants to hear more information about why Jim Duckett is requesting access to the data underlying his recent DNA test results,” the group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in a post on its website. “They have given his defense team until next Wednesday to file this, meaning that the window the state gave themselves to carry out the execution will expire. Jim Duckett is not at risk of execution in the immediate future.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to grant a stay of execution was highly unusual. Florida set a modern-era record by executing 19 inmates last year and has executed four this year. In almost all of those cases, the condemned killers unsuccessfully sought stays of execution.
If justices rule that the execution can move forward, Duckett’s attorneys could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Attorney General’s Office has argued, in part, that the swab evidence has long existed and that Duckett should have sought testing earlier. The state’s motion to vacate the stay said he knew about a slide that included the swab since at least 2003, but his attorneys advised waiting for testing until DNA technology advanced.
The motion alleged, however, that Duckett “did not seek DNA testing as soon as the science was sufficiently advanced” and waited until after the death warrant was signed.
“Both the state and the victim’s family deserve better than to have Duckett’s belated request for DNA testing result in a stay of the execution,” the motion said. “Duckett’s delay is alone a sufficient reason to vacate the stay.""
The entire story can be read at:
https://pro.stateaffairs.com/
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.
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;
