BREAKING: Death Warrant for James Barnes
Today, Governor DeSantis signed a warrant scheduling the execution of James Barnes for August 3, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.
This afternoon, Governor DeSantis issued a death warrant for the execution of James Barnes on August 3, 2023. This is Florida’s fifth death warrant of 2023.
As with prior warrants, I will post the full background of Barnes’s case shortly.
This is the longest warrant period so far this year at 42 days. The longer warrant period could be because the summer warrant period poses more challenges than even a normal warrant period in some ways.
Summer Warrant Period
For one, vacations are popular during this time of the year. If the attorneys and others involved in the warrant- and execution-related processes had vacations planned, they almost certainly have to change those plans. (Remember, no one has notice that a warrant is coming.) We saw a little bit of this with the discussion about Dr. Sultan’s vacation in Owen’s case.
July 4 Holiday
Also, the July 4 holiday is now in play. Of course, we’ve seen prior warrant periods that included national holidays—like Gaskin’s that included the Easter holiday and Owen’s that included Memorial Day.
Court Schedules
Further, although active warrant cases present unusual circumstances, it is worth noting that both the Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court slow down in July and August. The Florida Supreme Court stops its regular release of opinions in July and August:
Of course, as the Court’s website says, opinions will be issued for “time-sensitive cases,” which a warrant certainly would be. The Court also does not generally schedule oral arguments in July or August:
Again, the Court could certainly create an exception and hold an oral argument for a warrant-related case.
The U.S. Supreme Court also goes on recess during the summer. Per the Court’s website:
By law, the U.S. Supreme Court's term begins on the first Monday in October and goes through the Sunday before the first Monday in October of the following year. The Court is, typically, in recess from late June/early July until the first Monday in October.
Of course, the Court still must address death warrant cases during recess. A few other states have executions scheduled in July and August.
Florida Supreme Court Scheduling Order
Shortly after the warrant was issued, the Florida Supreme Court issued its Scheduling Order for warrant-related litigation.
Trial Court Scheduling Order
On Monday, June 26, the Brevard County trial court entered a Scheduling Order for the trial court proceedings. Here’s an overview:
10:00 a.m. June 27: Defense must file additional public records requests
12:00 p.m. June 27: Agencies’ objections to public records requests
3:00 p.m. June 27: Hearing on public records requests, if necessary
5:00 p.m. June 27: Deadline for agencies to comply to public records requests
12:00 p.m. June 28: Deadline for any successive postconviction motion
8:00 a.m. June 29: State’s response to postconviction motion
11:00 a.m. June 29: Huff hearing
4:00 p.m. June 29: Court will issue an order regarding whether an evidentiary hearing is required.
10:00 a.m. June 30: Evidentiary hearing, if necessary
5:00 p.m. July 3: Court’s final Order due
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant and execution process.