State Attorney withdraws request for fingerprint testing in Tommy Zeigler's case
Yesterday, the State Attorney's office announced it was withdrawing the prior administration's request for fingerprint testing.
William “Tommy” Zeigler has been on Florida’s death row since 1976. He is one of only two people on Florida’s death row to have been sentenced to death by a jury override. Since his conviction, Zeigler has requested further forensic testing of the evidence several times.
In late 2022, a trial court judge approved Zeigler’s request for DNA testing, allowing him to proceed with testing at his own expense. The results from that testing is expected next year, according to news reports.
In July of this year, State Attorney Monique Worrell’s office filed a motion seeking to examine fingerprint evidence from the crime scene as part of the Ninth Circuit’s Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU).1
The Motion explained that the request was part of the CIU’s efforts to review the veracity of Zeigler’s conviction:
According to news reports, Worrell’s filing the motion was “the first time since Zeigler’s conviction nearly five decades ago that the State of Florida had offered to test evidence” in his case.
However, in August, Gov. DeSantis suspended Worrell. (More here.) It was unclear at that time what would happen to the testing being conducted in Zeigler’s case under ASA Worrell’s direction.
The Governor appointed Andrew Bain to replace Worrell. Yesterday, at a status conference in Zeigler’s case, an attorney from Bain’s office announced that the State Attorney’s office “would be withdrawing the previous administration’s motion for fingerprint testing.”
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The Motion was amended as previously filed in May 2023.