Owen Warrant Update: Litigation continues in two Florida courts.
Litigation related to Owen's competency for execution continues in two Florida courts. This post has the latest.
The execution of Duane Owen is scheduled for June 15, 2023. It is the fourth scheduled execution in the state for 2023. Litigation related to Owen's competency for execution is pending in two Florida courts—the Florida Supreme Court and the Bradford County circuit court.
Florida Supreme Court
On Tuesday afternoon, Owen’s attorneys filed their Reply Brief at the Florida Supreme Court. The essence of Owen’s arguments in the Reply are that the Florida Supreme Court has the ability to overcome procedural and time bars (i.e., technical reasons for the Court to deny Owen’s claims) where there has been manifest injustice. They argue that this is one of those instances—that manifest injustice will result if Owen is not granted relief.
Therefore, Owen asks the Court for the following relief:
This case has now been fully briefed. The timeframe for the Court’s decision is unclear.
Bradford County Trial Court
As I posted yesterday, the trial court in Bradford County is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
The Order scheduling the hearing and ordering that Owen be transported to the court for the hearing was posted yesterday afternoon:
Owen’s attorneys have committed to filing their motion under section 922.07, Florida Statutes, and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.811 no later than 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning. It could likely be filed later today.
Late on Tuesday, the State also filed copies of Owen’s fourth successive postconviction motion (which was the subject of the litigation in the Palm Beach County trial court) and the State’s response to that motion. Owen’s appeal of the trial court’s denial of that motion is at issue in the case pending at the Florida Supreme Court, as explained here and stated in the State’s Notice.
Prior information on Owen’s case
The background of Owen’s case can be found here.
Background on the Rule 3.811 process is available here.
The Governor’s determination after the Commission’s report is available here.
The four-part series on the history of Owen’s mental illness can be found here:
The transcript from the Bradford County’s case management conference on May 26 is summarized here.
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant and execution process.