Brevard judge says Lightbourne ruling in Marion won't halt process in Schwab case
BY MABEL PEREZ
STAR-BANNER
Lawyers for condemned killers argue that Florida's lethal injection procedures are unconstitutional.
WHAT'S NEW?
A Brevard County circuit judge said Wednesday that Marion County Circuit Judge Carven Angel's objections to the state's execution policies do not prevent him from moving forward in considering the death warrant against Mark Schwab.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In October, the Florida Supreme Court is expected to make its decision on the death penalty process. The justices' ruling could turn on Angel's view in the case of Ian Lightbourne and affect Schwab's scheduled Nov. 15 execution.
TITUSVILLE - A judge said Wednesday that he is still unsure what impact, if any, Sunday's ruling in Ian Lightbourne's death-penalty case has on the scheduled execution of child-rapist and killer Mark Schwab.
Circuit Judge Charles M. Holcomb said that Circuit Judge Carven Angel's ruling in Marion County does not mandate how he should move forward and whether he should grant Schwab a stay of execution.
"The fact that we have Lightbourne out there doesn't slow anything down or stop anything as far as I'm concerned," said Holcomb, of the 18th Judicial Circuit in Brevard County. "As I see it, I don't think any other circuit can affect what we do."
That means that attorneys are going to do what they do best - file dozens of motions in the Schwab case by an Aug. 13 deadline. An evidentiary hearing is set Aug. 20 and Holcomb expects to issue any rulings by Aug. 31.
In an oral ruling on Sunday, Angel said the Florida Department of Corrections must rewrite portions of the execution protocol manual to reflect more details about the execution team, especially members' training and experience. The ruling came after 11 continuous days of hearings in Ocala.
Corrections officials have until Aug. 17 to submit their updated execution manual. Five weeks after that, Angel will hold a hearing to listen to other testimony and issue a final ruling about Florida's lethal injection policies. He previously told the Florida Supreme Court he will issue his final ruling by Sept. 10.
That gives the court a little more than a month to read transcripts of the Lightbourne hearings, Angel's order, the attorneys' written closing arguments and documents in the Schwab case.
The issue of how lethal injection is administered is coming to a head with Angel's ruling on Lightbourne and expected rulings in the Schwab case. The showdown scheduled in October in front of the Florida Supreme Court will potentially affect future executions - including Schwab's, which is scheduled for Nov. 15.
In the Schwab case, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Nunnelley said Wednesday he was concerned with having to hold the same type of hearings in the Schwab case as he did in the Lightbourne case. In Ocala, DOC officials and other witnesses to the botched execution of Angel Diaz in December testified about what they saw.
"I don't think we need to replow the ground that has been so finely plowed in the Lightbourne case," Nunnelley said.
At the same time, Nunnelley told the court that Judge Angel's ruling had "no binding" in the different jurisdiction. Angel presides in the 5th Judicial Circuit, which covers Marion, Citrus, Lake, Sumter and Hernando counties.
Attorneys representing dozens of death row inmates filed a petition the day after the Dec. 13 Diaz execution, claiming the penalty was "cruel and unusual." The Florida Supreme Court handpicked the Lightbourne case to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection methods.
It took 34 minutes - twice as long as normal - for Diaz, 55, to die after an unusual second injection of the three chemicals used in the procedure. Then-Gov. Jeb Bush suspended all Florida executions in December after a medical examiner said prison officials mishandled the insertion of the needles.
Gov. Charlie Crist ended that moratorium last week, when he signed a death warrant for Schwab.
A state commission reviewed DOC policies early this year and the execution protocol was updated in May. Angel ruled that more changes needed to be made.
Schwab, 38, was convicted of raping and murdering 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez Jr. of Cocoa. He was sentenced to death in 1992.
Lightbourne, 47, was sentenced to death in 1981 for the murder of Marion County horse breeder Nancy O'Farrell, the daughter of a prominent horse farming family.
Mabel Perez may reached at mabel.perez@starbanner.com 867-4106.
BY MABEL PEREZ
STAR-BANNER
Lawyers for condemned killers argue that Florida's lethal injection procedures are unconstitutional.
WHAT'S NEW?
A Brevard County circuit judge said Wednesday that Marion County Circuit Judge Carven Angel's objections to the state's execution policies do not prevent him from moving forward in considering the death warrant against Mark Schwab.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In October, the Florida Supreme Court is expected to make its decision on the death penalty process. The justices' ruling could turn on Angel's view in the case of Ian Lightbourne and affect Schwab's scheduled Nov. 15 execution.
TITUSVILLE - A judge said Wednesday that he is still unsure what impact, if any, Sunday's ruling in Ian Lightbourne's death-penalty case has on the scheduled execution of child-rapist and killer Mark Schwab.
Circuit Judge Charles M. Holcomb said that Circuit Judge Carven Angel's ruling in Marion County does not mandate how he should move forward and whether he should grant Schwab a stay of execution.
"The fact that we have Lightbourne out there doesn't slow anything down or stop anything as far as I'm concerned," said Holcomb, of the 18th Judicial Circuit in Brevard County. "As I see it, I don't think any other circuit can affect what we do."
That means that attorneys are going to do what they do best - file dozens of motions in the Schwab case by an Aug. 13 deadline. An evidentiary hearing is set Aug. 20 and Holcomb expects to issue any rulings by Aug. 31.
In an oral ruling on Sunday, Angel said the Florida Department of Corrections must rewrite portions of the execution protocol manual to reflect more details about the execution team, especially members' training and experience. The ruling came after 11 continuous days of hearings in Ocala.
Corrections officials have until Aug. 17 to submit their updated execution manual. Five weeks after that, Angel will hold a hearing to listen to other testimony and issue a final ruling about Florida's lethal injection policies. He previously told the Florida Supreme Court he will issue his final ruling by Sept. 10.
That gives the court a little more than a month to read transcripts of the Lightbourne hearings, Angel's order, the attorneys' written closing arguments and documents in the Schwab case.
The issue of how lethal injection is administered is coming to a head with Angel's ruling on Lightbourne and expected rulings in the Schwab case. The showdown scheduled in October in front of the Florida Supreme Court will potentially affect future executions - including Schwab's, which is scheduled for Nov. 15.
In the Schwab case, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Nunnelley said Wednesday he was concerned with having to hold the same type of hearings in the Schwab case as he did in the Lightbourne case. In Ocala, DOC officials and other witnesses to the botched execution of Angel Diaz in December testified about what they saw.
"I don't think we need to replow the ground that has been so finely plowed in the Lightbourne case," Nunnelley said.
At the same time, Nunnelley told the court that Judge Angel's ruling had "no binding" in the different jurisdiction. Angel presides in the 5th Judicial Circuit, which covers Marion, Citrus, Lake, Sumter and Hernando counties.
Attorneys representing dozens of death row inmates filed a petition the day after the Dec. 13 Diaz execution, claiming the penalty was "cruel and unusual." The Florida Supreme Court handpicked the Lightbourne case to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection methods.
It took 34 minutes - twice as long as normal - for Diaz, 55, to die after an unusual second injection of the three chemicals used in the procedure. Then-Gov. Jeb Bush suspended all Florida executions in December after a medical examiner said prison officials mishandled the insertion of the needles.
Gov. Charlie Crist ended that moratorium last week, when he signed a death warrant for Schwab.
A state commission reviewed DOC policies early this year and the execution protocol was updated in May. Angel ruled that more changes needed to be made.
Schwab, 38, was convicted of raping and murdering 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez Jr. of Cocoa. He was sentenced to death in 1992.
Lightbourne, 47, was sentenced to death in 1981 for the murder of Marion County horse breeder Nancy O'Farrell, the daughter of a prominent horse farming family.
Mabel Perez may reached at mabel.perez@starbanner.com 867-4106.
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