State Courts and Criminal Justice

The Florida Supreme Court has refused a request from Attorney General James Uthmeier to lift a stay of execution for former Mascotte police officer James Duckett, who was convicted of raping and murdering 11‑year‑old Teresa McAbee in 1987 and was scheduled to be executed Tuesday. DNA testing on biological material from the victim’s underwear, which the defense argued could exonerate Duckett, came back inconclusive on Friday, prompting the state to urge the court to let the execution proceed on the grounds the results did not clear him. Six of seven justices instead voted to keep the execution on hold, directing the trial court to review “successive claims” related to the new DNA evidence and to provide status updates on any outstanding issues by Thursday, April 2. Duckett’s case, which has relied heavily on now‑discredited hair microscopy along with fingerprints and tire‑track evidence, has drawn scrutiny because he is a former law enforcement officer and has consistently claimed innocence, putting a spotlight on whether 1980s‑era forensic methods are sufficient to sustain a death sentence when modern DNA testing fails to give a definitive answer.