Barwick's claims remain pending ahead of Wednesday execution.
As of Friday morning, the Florida Supreme Court has not ruled on Darryl Barwick's pending claims ahead of his execution scheduled for Wednesday, May 3.
Darryl Barwick’s execution is scheduled for Wednesday, May 3, at 6:00 p.m.1 In both Dillbeck’s and Gaskin’s cases (the prior two executions), the Florida Supreme Court issued their final decisions denying relief in the regular release of opinions on Thursday morning ahead of the executions.
This time is different. The Florida Supreme Court’s regular release of opinions yesterday did not include a ruling on Barwick’s claims, which remain pending.
Once the Florida Supreme Court issues its decision, Barwick still has an opportunity to seek relief at the U.S. Supreme Court, which requires briefing by the parties and the Court’s consideration of the claims. The execution cannot proceed until the process is complete.
Therefore, the longer we go without an opinion, the more likely we’re looking at a delayed execution. Both Dillbeck’s and Gaskin’s executions proceeded on time because all claims had been denied by the morning of the scheduled execution.
But that isn’t always the case. When executions resumed after Hurst (before COVID), delayed executions were the norm. The short warrant periods often cause a sort of log jam in courts reviewing the condemned’s final claims. (More on that here.) As a result, the U.S. Supreme Court is often reviewing the claims up until or even after the scheduled execution time.
While each of the executions between Hurst and COVID were scheduled for 6:00 p.m., most did not proceed on time.
Mark Asay was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m.
Michael Lambrix was pronounced dead at 10:10 p.m.
Patrick Hannon was pronounced dead at 8:50 p.m.
Eric Branch was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.
Jose Jimenez was pronounced dead at 9:48 p.m.
Robert Long was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m.
Gary Bowles was pronounced dead at 10:58 p.m.
Also, it’s worth noting that Governor DeSantis is currently overseas. It is unclear whether he will still be overseas when the execution is scheduled to take place.
Our thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant process.
Does Gov. DeSantis have to be in the state when an execution happens? Meaning, is there a final action he must take that requires him to be in the state at the time of an execution?