For Immediate Release 

Contact: [email protected]

Friday, July 24, 2026  

Florida Set to Execute James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone Tuesday Amidst Innocence Claim and 7-5 Jury Vote

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — On Tuesday, July 28, the State of Florida plans to execute two men on the same day for the first time in more than 60 years. If carried out, the executions of James Duckett at 12 p.m. and Dominick Occhicone at 6 p.m. will be the 39th and 40th executions under Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the 11th and 12th executions in the state since the start of 2026.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) is mobilizing supporters across the state through petitions and letter-writing campaigns urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt both executions. The organization is also planning or supporting events in multiple communities, including two prayer vigils outside Florida State Prison (23916 NW 83rd Ave., Raiford), scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. Vigil times are subject to change should either execution be stayed.

“July 28 represents an unprecedented escalation of Florida’s use of the death penalty,” said Grace Hanna, Executive Director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. “These are two profoundly different cases, but they point to the same troubling reality: Florida continues to expand the use of capital punishment, despite mounting evidence that it is not what Floridians want. Last year, there were five new death sentences in Florida. Just 15 years ago in 2011, 14 people were sentenced to death. While our state’s leaders accelerate towards executions, Florida juries are continuing to move away from it, even with the lowest juror threshold in the nation needed to impose death.”

James Duckett – Scheduled for Execution at 12pm

James Duckett was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of Teresa McAbee, allegedly committed while he was on duty as a police officer in Lake County. He has consistently maintained his innocence for nearly four decades.

When Gov. DeSantis first signed Duckett’s death warrant in February, the defense sought DNA testing of key biological evidence, arguing that advances in forensic science could help determine the identity of the perpetrator. The lower court agreed that identity was still a disputed issue in the case and ordered the testing to proceed. The execution was stayed by the Florida Supreme Court to allow for this process to be completed.

While the State did not initially object to the testing, they did insist and persuade the lower court to use a laboratory that did not perform the advanced form of testing – whole genome sequencing – required to study such an old and degraded sample. Mr. Duckett objected and warned the court and the state that this testing could be essentially meaningless. Because of this inappropriate and inadequate lab choice, the resulting data was insufficient to answer the very question the testing had been ordered to resolve. After extensive litigation, independent experts confirmed that there was not enough usable genetic information to either include or exclude Duckett as a contributor. In the process, the biological sample was destroyed, permanently eliminating any opportunity to retest it using newer or different methods.

Even though the State’s unilateral choice to select the wrong lab destroyed the sample, Duckett’s attorneys quickly filed motions to test other available evidence. But the State opposed this and moved to lift the stay. The Florida Supreme Court granted this motion, and Gov. DeSantis quickly rescheduled Duckett’s execution with only a two-week warrant period to allow for end-stage litigation to occur.

Florida death row exoneree Ralph “Ron” Wright, who also served as a police officer before being wrongfully sentenced to death, stated, “James Duckett and I share an experience few people ever will: we both served as police officers before becoming defendants in the very system we once trusted. Wearing a badge gave me faith in the justice system. Being wrongfully sentenced to death forced me to confront its fallibility. Knowing that another former officer now faces execution amidst these serious doubts is a powerful reminder that no profession, no background, and no amount of faith in the system can eliminate the risk of a wrongful conviction.”

Wright, who also serves on the boards of Witness to Innocence and FADP, continued, “My own case taught me that forensic evidence can be misunderstood, overstated, or simply fail to provide the clear answers people expect. Regardless of the reason why the science is inconclusive, the justice system has a responsibility to pursue the truth with greater urgency than it pursues an execution date.”

Dominick Occhicone – Scheduled for Execution at 6pm

Dominick Occhicone was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of Martha Artzner and received a life sentence for the murder of Raymond Artzner.

At 80 years old, Occhicone would become the oldest person ever executed by the State of Florida and the second oldest person executed in the modern era nationwide.

His death sentence was imposed following a 7-5 jury recommendation – a sentencing standard that no longer exists anywhere in the United States. Today, every death penalty state, including Florida, requires greater jury agreement before a death sentence may be imposed.

“Florida plans to execute an 80-year-old man based on a death sentence that would not be imposed anywhere in the country today – including Florida,” said Hanna. “This execution serves no public safety purpose. It is a choice.”

Litigation

James Duckett’s appeals before the Florida Supreme Court were denied today, July 24. His legal team is expected to seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, Duckett has three federal lawsuits pending. The first challenges the State’s handling of DNA testing that could have exonerated him after key biological evidence was consumed during testing, eliminating any opportunity for further analysis. The second argues that carrying out his execution would create an unconstitutional risk of cruel and unusual punishment because chemotherapy for cancer has left him with severely compromised veins. The third is a joint action filed by Duckett and Dominick Occhicone challenging the State’s unprecedented plan to carry out two executions on the same day, as detailed below.

Dominick Occhicone’s appeals before the Florida Supreme Court were denied on July 21. His legal team is expected to seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court. His attorneys are also handling the active death warrant for William Silvia, scheduled for execution on August 18.

Duckett and Occhicone have jointly filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida challenging the State’s plan to carry out both executions on the same day. The lawsuit alleges that the unprecedented schedule violates their rights under the First, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and asks the court to prohibit the State from proceeding in this manner. The complaint argues that there is no plausible justification for conducting two executions in a single day and that the compressed schedule unconstitutionally restricts the men’s access to the courts, interferes with due process, and creates an increased risk of error during the execution process, including the possibility that execution team members could be fatigued or distracted and that problems could arise in the preparation or handling of the lethal injection chemicals. The filing also points to examples in Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, all of which have either encountered significant problems when attempting executions on similarly compressed timelines or have adopted policies to avoid doing so.

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