Posted on 04/01/2026 12:23:58 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A scheduled execution in Florida will not happen on Tuesday.
It comes after the Florida Supreme Court refused to lift the stay of execution it granted to the former police officer.
James Duckett was convicted of sexual battery and the murder of an 11-year-old girl in 1987.
His legal team requested DNA testing, which they hoped would clear Duckett, and the results were inconclusive.
Florida’s Attorney General then requested that the stay of execution be lifted, but the Florida Supreme Court refused.
Grace Hanna is the Executive Director for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
“It’s very rare, particularly in Florida, where we have gone from having very few executions to having a pretty phenomenal case of executions in the past year,” Hanna told WMNF.
Meanwhile, on Monday, DeSantis signed a death warrant for James Ernest Hitchcock.
He was convicted of raping and murdering his brother’s 13-year-old stepdaughter in 1976.
If he’s innocent, he shouldn’t be executed.
Duckett was convicted of the murder in Lake County, which is east of Orlando, but he is also suspected in two other murders in Lakeland, Polk County, about ten miles from where I lived until the end of February.
Well... Every now and then they do make a mistake but execute him anyway... Just to be sure.
He isn’t innocent.
All the evidence against him is circumstantial though there appears to be 3 circumstances and 3 testimonies of other young women that put together paint a pretty ugly picture.
There were tire tracks near the body drop that matched the police cruiser and those tires were somewhat unique. They were given to the cops by a tire shop because snow/mud tires had been accidentally delivered and the shop figured they would not sell in Florida.
There were hand and palm prints from the victim in a pattern that indicated she was sitting forward on the hood of the police cruiser but nobody saw her in this position prior to the cop “sending her home” and there were witnesses for the entire interaction before she got into his cruiser. There also is a 1 hour communication gap in his patrol which was apparently not customary, and three women indicated he had picked them up in his patrol car and attempted to engage them in sexual activity, one of them assenting.
Less convincing to me was a hair comparison was made between the cop and evidence on the victim. The FBI said it was a likely match but their word should always be suspect. The comparison technique is no longer used though I don’t know if it was inaccurate or if modern dna tests rendered it moot.
The defense argued to keep the DNA out of the case over 20 years ago. Now that they have nothing to lose, they want the DNA tested. It’s a hail Mary move to delay execution. The DNA will match Duckett.
It’s a shame he wasn’t executed decades ago. The trial evidence was conclusive. Ducketts changing story to fit the evidence only confirmed his guilt. It’s a shame we allow the perp to delay execution in a case where the perp is clearly guilty.
The story said the new DNA testing was inconclusive.
Perhaps it should be done by a different lab considering the advances in technology. I feel like “inconclusive” might indicate tampering with evidence to muddy the waters.
Circumstantial evidence is the majority of evidence in most trials. Non-circumstantial, or direct evidence, is that which is proffered as testamentary.
There was a pubic hair that cleared some suspects but was inconclusive for clearing the officer.
My guess is the article is conflating that with the requested DNA test results. Why would that be?
“Grace Hanna is the Executive Director for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.”
“execute him anyway”
This is what happens in our justice system.
“He isn’t innocent.”
If Americans knew what really happens in our justice system, there would be some changes. The day is coming.
It’s a trade off... You kill one innocent every now and then, but the larger amount of people in jail for murder are actually murder’s and deserve their death penalties... They get executed too, which is a good thing.
The point not to miss is the fact that we have corrupt prosecutors and judges.
I don’t mean incompetent prosecutors and judges.
Corrupt.
What color is the soul of a corrupt prosecutor?
A competent and benevolent justice system would preclude the execution of innocent people.
Has nothing to do with this killer.
Corruption is, has been and always will be endemic in our society... And because it continues on without repercussion it sadly appears to be increasing as of late.
Innocent people being jailed is sometimes a result of corruption, and it is also a result of pure incompetence. Incompetent Judges, Prosecutors and defense lawyers putting innocent people on trial and convicting them. That is not a revelation. It’s been happening since Justice courts were created.
The result is the odd person here and there being convicted and sometimes even executed. Halting these state sanctioned executions because one innocent person may be killed isn’t acceptable... For the greater good of society we need to continue executing dangerous people.
Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the victim.
L
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