TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court today ruled that James Aren Duckett, who was previously scheduled for execution in Florida on March 31, must be given access to the underlying DNA testing data in his case. The Court found that he has not yet received the complete results of postconviction DNA testing that was ordered after the Governor signed his death warrant on February 27. The case now returns to the circuit court, where the underlying DNA data must be disclosed and further analysis may proceed. The stay of execution remains in place.
In a partial reversal, the Court held that the circuit court erred in denying Duckett access to the underlying data necessary for a qualified expert to conduct further analysis — analysis that state officials themselves acknowledged may still be possible. The Court remanded the case for the data to be provided and directed that additional proceedings, including a potential evidentiary hearing, take place if disputes arise over the scope of that data.
“Mr. Duckett has maintained his innocence for the nearly 40 years he has spent on Florida’s death row. Given that Florida has more death row exonerees than any other state in the nation, we are encouraged that the Florida Supreme Court is taking this important step to ensure that he is not executed before all evidence is tested,” said Grace Hanna, Executive Director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP). “It is ironic, however,” Hanna adds, “that this order comes on the same day that Florida is scheduled to execute James Hitchcock, another man who has maintained his innocence, sought DNA testing, and presented compelling evidence that another individual confessed to the crime on multiple occasions.”
“If the State has not even completed the scientific analysis of the DNA evidence, it cannot claim certainty about guilt,” said Hanna. “Today’s ruling confirms what we have been saying all along: the process is not finished, and the truth is still unresolved.”
Case Background
James Duckett was sentenced to death for the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year old Teresa McAbee in Lake County, FL. His jury voted 8–4 to recommend the death penalty.
Duckett’s conviction was based on entirely circumstantial evidence, including witness testimony that has since been recanted and forensic analysis that has been discredited. Duckett has maintained his innocence for nearly 40 years. No physical evidence ever conclusively proved his guilt. The state’s case depended heavily on a single teenage witness who later said her testimony was false and the product of pressure from investigators, who threatened to take away her soon-to-be-due newborn if she refused to cooperate. It also relied on microscopic hair comparison evidence that federal authorities later found to be scientifically unsound and overstated in court.
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