Capital punishment in Florida

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Capital punishment is legal in U.S. state of Florida. Florida was the first state to reintroduce the death penalty after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down all statutes in the country in the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision, and the first to perform a post-Furman involuntary execution in 1979. The only person until then who had been executed during the post-Furman period was Gary Gilmore, who volunteered to be executed, in 1977, effectively ending the national moratorium on the death penalty which had been in effect since 1967.

Since Furman, not including the voluntary execution of Gary Gilmore, 64 people have been executed by the State of Florida, all at Florida State Prison, which possesses the state's sole remaining death chamber. 397 are currently awaiting execution, with one death warrant, for Mark Dean Schwab, pending.

Contents 1 Crimes punishable to death 2 Method of executions 3 Florida's response to Furman 4 Transition of execution methods 5 Clemency 6 Women 7 Controversy 8 List of individuals executed since 1979 9 References

[edit] Crimes punishable to death

In the pre-Furman period, murder was not the only capital crime. People were also sentenced and executed for rape (until the end of the pre-Furman period), and in earlier years also for aiding runaway slaves^[1].

Currently, Florida's capital crimes are:^[2]

• First-degree murder
• Felony murder
• Capital drug trafficking
• Capital sexual battery

Due to the Supreme Court case Coker v. Georgia in 1977, only those convicted of murder may receive the death penalty. Florida however is watching Kennedy v. Louisiana, a pending case where the state of Louisiana seeks to execute a man convicted of raping an eight-year-old child.

[edit] Method of executions

Florida used public hanging under a local jurisdiction, oversaw and performed by the sheriffs of the counties where the crimes took place. However, in 1923, the Florida Legislature passed a law replacing hanging with the electric chair and stated that all future execution will be preformed under a state jurisdiction inside prisons.^[3][4]

A total of 223 people were electrocuted through 1964^[5], all of whom were men. Before that, 117 were hanged. 44 were electrocuted after 1979.

Until 1941, sheriffs of the counties where the crimes were committed would perform the executions. Later, a black-hooded executioner, a private citizen who is paid $150 per execution, took over. This gave anonymity to the actual executioner.^[6][7]

[edit] Florida's response to Furman

Florida preformed its last pre-Furman execution in 1964 (Sie Dawson). After the Supreme Court of the United States struck down all states' death penalty procedures in the Furman v. Georgia ruling, essentially ruling the imposition of the death penalty at the same time as a guilty verdict unconstitutional, Florida was the first state to draft a newly-written statute on August 12, 1972.^[8] This statute mandates a separate penalty phase in cases where prosecutors seek the death penalty. Due to the Furman ruling, the death sentences of 95 men and one woman were commuted.^[9]

Today, the only death chamber in Florida is located at Florida State Prison in Starke. When sentenced, male convicts who receive the death penalty are incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution next door to Florida State Prison, while female convicts who are sentenced to death are incarcerated at Lowell Correctional Institution north of Ocala. Inmates are moved to the Death Row at Florida State Prison when their death warrant is signed.

Florida preformed the first involuntary execution after the Supreme Court, in the 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia, permitted the death penalty once more. John Arthur Spenkelink was electrocuted on May 25, 1979.^[10]

[edit] Transition of execution methods

The electric chair became a subject of strong controversy in the 1990s after three botched executions (Jesse Tafero in 1990, Pedro Medina in 1997, and Allen Lee Davis in 1999). While most of states switched to the lethal injection, many politicians in Florida opposed giving up "Old Sparky", seeing it as a deterrent^[11][12]. After Medina's execution, the Florida Senate voted unamiously to keep the chair, and the Florida House of Representatives concurred with only a few opposing votes, despite Governor Lawton Chiles and Attorney General Bob Butterworth suggestions to introduce injection.^[13] Lethal injection was introduced as a backup method if chair be ever found unconstitutional.

Finally, after Davis execution, lethal injection became the primary method.^[14] Inmates, however, may still choose electrocution.^[15]

[edit] Clemency

The Governor of Florida has the right to commute the death penalty, but only with positive recommendation of clemency From a Board, where he or she sits.^[16]

Since 1979, six commutations have been granted, all under administration of Governor Bob Graham.^[17]

[edit] Women

Two women have been executed in Florida, both post-Furman. The first to be executed was Judy Buenoano, executed in 1998 for killing, at different times, her husband (1971) and son (1980). The second was Aileen Wuornos, a serial killer who was executed in 2002 for seven murders committed in 1989 and 1990.

[edit] Controversy

Like many other states with capital punishment, there is concern about the execution of innocent persons, especially since the advent of DNA-based evidence has made it possible to re-examine evidence in older cases with blood and tissue evidence still intact. Some believe that Jesse Tafero, Leo Alexander Jones and Pedro Medina may have been wrongly executed, but their cases were not re-examined prior to their executions.^[18]

[edit] List of individuals executed since 1979

	Executed person	Date of execution	Method	Victim(s)	Under Governor
1	John Arthur Spenkelink	25 May 1979	electric chair	Joseph J. Szymnkiewicz	Bob Graham
2	Robert Austin Sullivan[19]	30 November 1983	electric chair	Donald Schmidt	Bob Graham
3	Anthony Antone[19]	26 January 1984	electric chair	Richard Cloud	Bob Graham
4	Arthur Frederick Goode III[19]	5 April 1984	electric chair	Jason Verdow	Bob Graham
5	James Adams[19]	10 April 1984	electric chair	Edgar Brown	Bob Graham
6	Carl Shriner[19]	20 June 1984	electric chair	Judith Ann Carter	Bob Graham
7	David Leroy Washington[19]	13 July 1984	electric chair	Daniel Pridgen, Frank Meli, and Katrina Birk	Bob Graham
8	Ernest John Dobbert, Jr.[19]	7 September 1984	electric chair	Kelley Dobbert and Ryder Dobbert	Bob Graham
9	James Dupree Henry[19]	20 September 1984	electric chair	Zelie L. Riley	Bob Graham
10	Timothy Charles Palmes[19]	8 November 1984	electric chair	James Stone	Bob Graham
11	James David Raulerson[19]	30 January 1985	electric chair	Mike Stewart	Bob Graham
12	Johnny Paul Witt[19]	4 March 1985	electric chair	Jonathan Kushner	Bob Graham
13	Marvin Francois[19]	29 May 1985	electric chair	Livingston Stocker, Henry Clayton, Randolph Holmes, Charles Stinson, Gilbert Williams, and Michael Miller	Bob Graham
14	Daniel Morris Thomas[19]	15 April 1986	electric chair	Charles Anderson	Bob Graham
15	David Livingston Funchess[19]	22 April 1986	electric chair	Anna Waldrop and Clayton Ragen	Bob Graham
16	Ronald John Michael Straight[19]	20 May 1986	electric chair	James Stone	Bob Graham
17	Beauford White[19]	28 August 1987	electric chair	Livingston Stocker, Henry Clayton, Randolph Holms, Charles Stinson, Gilbert Williams, and Michael Miller	Bob Martinez
18	Willie Jasper Darden[19]	15 March 1988	electric chair	James Turman	Bob Martinez
19	Jeffrey Josepth Daughtery[19]	7 November 1988	electric chair	Lavonne Sailer, Betty Campbell, Carmen Abrams, and Elizabeth Shanks	Bob Martinez
20	Ted Bundy	24 January 1989	electric chair	Kimberly Leach, Lisa Levy, Margaret Bowman, and others	Bob Martinez
21	Aubrey Dennis Adams, Jr.[19]	4 May 1989	electric chair	Trisa Gail Thomley	Bob Martinez
22	Jesse Tafero	4 May 1990	electric chair	FHP Trooper Phillip Black and RCMP Constable Donald Irwin	Bob Martinez
23	Anthony Bertolotti[19]	27 July 1990	electric chair	Carol Ward	Bob Martinez
24	James William Hamblen[19]	21 September 1990	electric chair	Laureen Jean Edwards	Bob Martinez
25	Raymond Robert Clark[19]	19 November 1990	electric chair	David Drake	Bob Martinez
26	Roy Allen Harich[19]	24 April 1991	electric chair	Carlene Kelly	Lawton Chiles
27	Bobby Marion Francis[19]	25 June 1991	electric chair	Titus Walters	Lawton Chiles
28	Nollie Lee Martin[19]	12 May 1992	electric chair	Patricia Greenfield	Lawton Chiles
29	Edward Dean Kennedy[19]	21 July 1992	electric chair	Floyd Cone, Jr. and Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Robert McDernon,Sr.	Lawton Chiles
30	Robert Dale Henderson, Sr.[19]	21 April 1993	electric chair	Murray Ferderber, Dorothy Wilkerson, Ivan Barnett, Marie Barnett, and Clifford Barnett	Lawton Chiles
31	Larry Joe Johnson[19]	5 May 1993	electric chair	James Hadden	Lawton Chiles
32	Michael Alan Durocher[19]	25 August 1993	electric chair	Joshua Durocher, Grace Reed, and Candice Reed	Lawton Chiles
33	Roy Allen Stewart[19]	22 April 1994	electric chair	Margaret Haizlip	Lawton Chiles
34	Bernard Bolander[19]	18 July 1995	electric chair	Rudolfi Ayan, Sr., Nico Hernandez, John Merino, and Scott Bennett	Lawton Chiles
35	Jerry White	4 December 1995	electric chair	James Melson	Lawton Chiles
36	Phillip Alexander Atkins[19]	5 December 1995	electric chair	Antonio Castillo	Lawton Chiles
37	John Earl Bush[19]	21 October 1996	electric chair	Frances Julia Slater	Lawton Chiles
38	John Mills, Jr.[19]	6 December 1996	electric chair	Les Lawhon	Lawton Chiles
39	Pedro Medina	25 March 1997	electric chair	Cindy Rounseville	Lawton Chiles
40	Gerald Stano	23 March 1998	electric chair	Cathy Lee Scharf	Lawton Chiles
41	Leo Alexander Jones	24 March 1998	electric chair	Thomas Szarfranski	Lawton Chiles
42	Judy Buenoano	30 March 1998	electric chair	James Goodyear	Lawton Chiles
43	Daniel Eugene Remeta[20][19]	31 March 1998	electric chair	Mearle Reeder, Linda Marvin, Larry McFarland, and Glenn Moore	Lawton Chiles
44	Allen Lee Davis	8 July 1999	electric chair	Nancy Weiler, Kristina Weiler, and Katherine Weiler	Jeb Bush
45	Terry Melvin Sims[21][19]	23 February 2000	lethal injection	George Pfeil	Jeb Bush
46	Anthony Braden Bryan[22][19]	24 February 2000	lethal injection	George Wilson	Jeb Bush
47	Bennie Eddie Demps[23][19]	7 June 2000	lethal injection	Alfred Sturgis, Celia Puhlick, and R.N. Brinkworth	Jeb Bush
48	Thomas Harrison Provenzano	21 June 2000	lethal injection	William Wilkerson	Jeb Bush
49	Dan Patrick Hauser[24][19]	25 August 2000	lethal injection	Melanie Rodrigues	Jeb Bush
50	Edward Castro[25][19]	7 December 2000	lethal injection	Austin Carter Scott	Jeb Bush
51	Robert Dewey Glock, II[26][19]	11 January 2001	lethal injection	Sharilyn Ritchie	Jeb Bush
52	Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco[27][19]	2 October 2002	lethal injection	Katixa Ecenarro	Jeb Bush
53	Aileen Wuornos	9 October 2002	lethal injection	Richard Mallory, Dick Humphreys, Charles Carskaddon, Troy Burress, Peter Siems, Walter Jeno Antonio, and David Spears	Jeb Bush
54	Linroy Bottoson[28][19]	9 December 2002	lethal injection	Catherine Alexander	Jeb Bush
55	Amos Lee King, Jr.[29][19]	26 February 2003	lethal injection	Natalie Brady	Jeb Bush
56	Newton Carlton Slawson[30][19]	16 May 2003	lethal injection	Gerald Wood, Peggy Wood, Jennifer Wood, and Glendon Wood	Jeb Bush
57	Paul Jennings Hill	3 September 2003	lethal injection	John Bayard Britton and James Herman Barrett	Jeb Bush
58	Johnny Leartice Robinson	4 February 2004	lethal injection	Beverly St. George	Jeb Bush
59	John Richard Blackwelder	26 May 2004	lethal injection	Raymond D. Wigley	Jeb Bush
60	Glen James Ocha	5 April 2005	lethal injection	Carol Skjerva	Jeb Bush
61	Clarence Hill	20 September 2006	lethal injection	Stephen Taylor	Jeb Bush
62	Arthur Dennis Rutherford[31][32]	19 October 2006	lethal injection	Stella Salamon	Jeb Bush
63	Danny Rolling	25 October 2006	lethal injection	Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Manuel R. Taboada, and Tracy Inez Paules	Jeb Bush
64	Ángel Nieves Díaz	13 December 2006	lethal injection	Joseph Nagy	Jeb Bush

[edit] References

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