Florida Supreme Court rejects stay for execution of former police officer accused of killing 11-year-old girl

The Florida Supreme Court on Friday denied a request for a stay of execution for James Aren Duckett, who is one of two inmates scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday.

Duckett, 68, now awaits action on a similar request from the U.S. Supreme Court.

A former Mascotte police officer, Duckett is scheduled to die at noon Tuesday at Florida State Prison in Stark for the 1987 death of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee.

Dissenting in part over the motion for further DNA testing by Duckett's counsel, Justice Adam Tanenbaum described the defendant's post-conviction motion as "both time-barred and frivolous, undoubtedly filed only for the purpose of unreasonably delaying his execution further."

Tanenbaum added that the court should order Duckett's counsel to "show cause why there should not be sanctions imposed."

The court had issued a stay of Gov. Ron DeSantis' first execution warrant for Duckett in March as his counsel sought additional DNA testing on semen samples found on McAbee's clothes. The results did not exonerate Duckett and his counsel requested further testing.

Concurring with the court on denying the latest request for a stay, Justice Jorge Labarga wrote a separate opinion disagreeing with Tanenbaum's "characterization of Duckett's postconviction motion as frivolous and, even more so, with the suggestion that Duckett's counsel should be ordered to show cause why sanctions should not be levied against them."

"In these most serious of cases, where death warrants have been signed and execution dates are imminent, counsel on both sides have a solemn obligation to the process," Labarga wrote. "They are guided by their professional and ethical responsibilities, with the understanding that even those condemned to death and facing execution are entitled to access to our courts."

The court made a similar ruling against a stay earlier in the week regarding Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, who is scheduled to be executed Tuesday at 6 p.m. 

Occhicone, who also awaits action by the U.S. Supreme Court, killed his former girlfriend's parents four decades ago in Pasco County.

At 80, Occhicone is set to be the oldest inmate executed by the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Executions were halted following a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that was later overturned.