Warrant Briefing Frenzy; Visiting FSP During a Warrant Period
Briefing related to Louis Gaskin's scheduled execution (April 12, 2023) has picked up momentum. Also a note on visiting Florida State Prison while Gaskin is on death watch. Finally, OA for next week.
Louis Gaskin and his attorneys are in a fight for his life ahead of the execution scheduled April 12, 2023. Briefing has been filed nonstop this week. I have not been ignoring the warrant legislation but am deferring to
a bit to cover the details of the Gaskin warrant litigation.This last-minute flurry of briefing is fairly routine. As I discussed in a law review article published in 2020, the short warrant periods put immense pressure on capital defendants and their attorneys to file and fully exhaust last-minute claims. In turn, courts are under extremely tight timeframes to review and issue rulings on the claims. I also discussed this process in a recent op-ed, published by City and State Florida.
We didn’t see as much litigation during the warrant period in Dillbeck’s case before he was executed on February 23, 2023.
For updates as they happen, follow Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty (@FLDeathPenalty), Florida Court Review (fla_ct_rev), and Robert Dunham (@RDunhamDP) on Twitter.
Visiting FSP During a Warrant Period
On Thursday, I got home from the Judge Marvin Mounts Prison Tour. Over two days, we toured seven of Florida’s prisons—from the lowest security to Florida State Prison (FSP), where the execution chamber is located. I plan to write a lengthy post about the tour but wanted to note here about being at FSP while Gaskin is on death watch.
We saw the execution chamber and sat in there for quite some time while prison officials gave us an explanation of the execution process. Gaskin was just steps away from where we sat and could likely have heard the discussion—or at least sounds in the distance. The officials made an exception to let us tour that area because it’s usually not allowed while a prisoner is on death watch.
We did not see Gaskin or the death watch area, and they asked us to be quiet while we were going down the stairs because of Gaskin being nearby.
At the end of the presentation, the group clapped. I cringed thinking that Gaskin could hear a group clapping in the distance.
Prior Posts on Gaskin Warrant
The original post on Gaskin’s warrant can be found here.
The post related to the Supreme Court of Florida’s scheduling order can be found here.
Florida Supreme Court OA Next Week
The Florida Supreme Court has posted its summaries for oral arguments scheduled next week. One capital case is on the schedule: Bevel v. State. Here’s the summary:
Bevel was convicted of the first-degree murders of 13-year-old Phillip Sims and his father, Garrick Stringfield, who were fatally shot in 2004. The jury voted to recommend death sentences for both murders, and the trial court sentenced him to death. This Court affirmed the sentences on direct appeal. In Bevel's postconviction appeal, this Court vacated his death sentences and remanded the case for a new penalty phase proceeding. In December 2021, the jury voted unanimously to sentence Bevel to death on both charges. The trial court sentenced him to death, and this appeal followed.
In short, this is Bevel’s direct appeal from his resentencing after Hurst v. Florida in 2016.
The OA is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, beginning at 11:00 a.m. It will be live-streamed on the Court’s feeds.
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant and execution process.