Overview
- Prosecutors asked the Florida Supreme Court to end the stay Friday after a status report said newly authorized DNA testing returned inconclusive results.
- The court paused the execution Thursday to allow testing of semen found on Teresa McAbee’s jeans and ordered a status update by 5 p.m. Friday.
- Justice Adam Tanenbaum dissented from the stay, calling it premature and faulting Duckett for waiting until the death warrant period to pursue the testing.
- Duckett, a former Mascotte police officer, was convicted of the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old McAbee based on physical evidence and witness accounts that included matching patrol-car tire tracks, both sets of fingerprints on his car hood, blood and hair, and testimony from three teens about prior advances.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant on Feb. 27 with an April 7 end date, creating a tight timetable that has sharpened the dispute over last-minute forensic testing and appeals.