The
surrogate It begins with a woman who yearns for a baby and
another who is willing and able to give her one. You can imagine
the motives of the prospective parents. But what about the woman
willing to carry a baby, give birth and then walk away?
Friday Night
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Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando County.
Wayne Tompkins has been on
death row since 1985 for strangling a 15-year-old
girl.
TAMPA A month after issuing a stay of execution for Wayne
Tompkins, the Florida Supreme Court on Friday denied the death row
inmate's latest round of appeals.
But in a pointed dissent, one justice questioned the conduct of
the Hillsborough prosecutor who handled Tompkins' case 23 years
ago.
Justice Harry Lee Anstead argued that his colleagues should not
dismiss allegations that Mike Benito, a former assistant state
attorney, urged a key state witness to embellish his testimony.
"Indeed, if the claim is true, we have a state prosecutor who
committed a criminal act in tampering with a witness," Anstead
wrote. "Surely, common sense would tell us this is the kind of
'bombshell' disclosure that could change the jury's entire
evaluation of the case."
In an interview last month, a jailhouse informer maintained that
Tompkins had confided to him how he strangled 15-year-old Lisa
DeCarr in March 1983. But the inmate said for the first time that
Benito instructed him to tell jurors DeCarr was buried under her
Tampa home with a purse, a detail the informer did not recall
hearing from Tompkins.
Benito, now in private practice in Tampa, could not be reached
Friday afternoon. He told prosecutors last month he never coached
the witness.
"Absolutely not," Benito said, according to a transcript filed
with the state Supreme Court. "I never tell a witness what to
say."
No new execution date has been set for Tompkins. On Friday, a
U.S. district judge dismissed the death row inmate's petition for
federal relief.
Tompkins' attorney said he had more appellate options to pursue.
The new revelation from the witness is just one of many concerns
attorney Martin McClain has about the state's case.
"This is one of the most troubling cases that I have," he said.
"The evidence against Mr. Tompkins is just absurd."
Colleen Jenkins can be reached at cjenkins@sptimes.com or
(813) 226-3337.
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