Execution of Former Officer on Hold Following DNA Evidence Review
The state Supreme Court has decided to maintain a hold on the execution of a former police officer, who was convicted of murdering and raping an 11-year-old girl almost 40 years ago. This decision came after the state’s request to lift his probation was denied.
James Duckett, who previously served as a police officer in Mascot, was set to be executed on Tuesday. He was accused of the crime involving Teresa McAbee in 1987. Recently, DNA testing of biological material from the victim’s underwear, which Duckett’s defense argued could prove his innocence, yielded inconclusive results. As a result, Florida’s attorney general sought to lift the stay of execution, hoping to move forward as planned.
However, the high court made a decision on Monday to reject this request. Six of the seven justices agreed to keep the execution on hold, allowing a lower court to look into various claims concerning the DNA evidence. They requested an update on these matters by Thursday, April 2.
Duckett’s case has gained notable attention due to his lengthy time on death row—nearly four decades—and his assertions of innocence.
On May 11, 1987, Duckett, then 29, reportedly questioned a girl by a convenience store near Orlando before putting her in his patrol car, citing her curfew violation. The 11-year-old girl went missing that night; the next morning, her body was discovered in a nearby lake, showing signs of sexual assault, strangulation, and drowning. Duckett was identified as the last person to see her.
In court, an FBI expert had matched hair found at the crime scene to Duckett, though later analyses have deemed hair microscopy an unreliable forensic method. Furthermore, both Duckett and the victim’s fingerprints were located on the patrol car’s hood, and tire tracks at the scene corresponded to the tires used by the Mascot Police Department.
Complicating matters, records from Duckett’s radio indicated a dubious gap of over an hour on the night of the incident. His case stands out, considering he is one of the few ex-law enforcement officers on death row. Currently, the argument revolves around whether evidence from the 1980s, including hair matches, should support the death sentence, particularly in light of modern DNA testing results that do not conclusively determine guilt.
