BELL WARRANT: Circuit Court grants evidentiary hearing
Michael Bell’s execution is set July 15 at 6:00 p.m. On Wednesday, Bell filed a successive motion for postconviction relief in the circuit court. Today, the Court granted Bell an evidentiary hearing.
Michael Bell’s execution is set July 15 at 6:00 p.m.—the eighth in Florida this year. Today, the circuit court granted Bell an evidentiary hearing on one of his pending claims. This is the first time an evidentiary hearing has been granted in warrant litigation since at least 2019.1
Bell’s Successive Postconviction Motion
On Wednesday, Bell filed a successive motion for postconviction relief in the circuit court. The motion raises one claim on which he seeks an evidentiary hearing.
In this claim, Bell argues that newly discovered evidence regarding eyewitness Henry Edwards establishes Brady/Giglio violations. Specifically, the motion argues that Edwards “disclosed on June 16, 2025, that he did not see the murders” but “only heard them because he was inside the store when the shootings occurred.” Edwards further said that “Detective William Bolena was aware” of this discrepancy “and told Edwards what to testify to in exchange for favors,” including “furloughs from jail during his period of incarceration around the time of the murders.” Edwards further stated that Detective Bolena “pointed out Bell to Edwards in the photo line up and that Bolena put him in a holding cell with an eyewitness so that Edwards could corroborate his ‘eyewitness’ testimony with hers.” The motion further states that it has recently become public knowledge, through reporting by The Tributary on Kenneth Hartley’s case,2 that Detective Bolena is “associated with very similar tactics in other murder cases from the same year and neighborhood of the murders” in Bell’s case. Bell’s motion states that Edwards “is available to testify under oath to the facts alleged in the motion and affidavit attached.
Bell further argues that newly discovered evidence regarding Charles Jones establishes Brady/Giglio violations. Jones disclosed on June 28 (the day Bell’s motion was filed) that Detective Bolena approached him in 1994 when he was in jail and “coerced him to testify against Bell by offering to help him with his charges” and that Detective Bolena and prosecutor George Bateh (also the prosecutor on Hartley’s case) “told him what to say at trial.”
In addition, the motion raises three claims on which Bell does not seek an evidentiary hearing.
In this claim, the motion explains that Bell was institutionalized as a child at “Florida’s infamous Dozier School for Boys.” He attended Dozier from 1986-87. TFDP previously covered Dozier related to Loran Cole’s execution in 2024. According to the motion, Bell “was sexually assaulted by a guard” while at Dozier and “was forced by guards to fight in a fight club where guards forced the children to fight and placed bets on who would win.” According to the motion, “[a]t least 29 former Dozier students wound on death row since the death penalty was reinstate[d] in 1976.”
The State responded to Bell’s motion arguing that the claims are procedurally barred and time-barred. Further, the State argues that notwithstanding the procedural deficiencies, the claims would not result in Bell being entitled to relief. (The State’s response is not publicly available, but this is based on the argument at the Huff hearing.)
Motion to Interview Jurors
Also on Wednesday, Bell filed a motion to interview jurors from his original trial. His attorneys request the ability to interview jurors about the comments underlying Bell’s second claim in his postconviction motion—regarding the “improper injection of racial bias and prejudice into his trial.”
The State argues that the motion is time-barred because Bell has had notice of the allegedly improper comments since his trial.
Huff Hearing
This afternoon, the Court held a Huff hearing that lasted several hours. Ultimately, the Court granted Bell’s request for an evidentiary hearing on his first claim. The evidentiary hearing will be Monday at 9:00 a.m.
The parties’ witness and exhibit lists are due today at 5:00 p.m. The Court ordered that Charles Jones, who is currently incarcerated, be transported to Duval County for the hearing. The Court also ordered, against his objection, that Bell be transported to Duval County for the hearing.
News Articles
TFDP Prior Coverage of Bell’s Warrant
Circuit court Scheduling Order
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant- and execution-related process.
No evidentiary hearings were granted in 2023 or 2024. Before that, the last execution was August 22, 2019. I do not believe any were granted in 2017-2019 either but have not reviewed each case to confirm.
This has to be devastating to the victims family
Praying the courts uphold trial court’s decision and execution moves forward