Zack Warrant: Litigation has begun in Escambia County
As of this post, no motion for postconviction relief has yet been filed. Per the Florida Supreme Court's Scheduling Order, trial court proceedings must be completed by September 1.
A week ago today, Gov. DeSantis signed the sixth death warrant of the year, scheduling Michael Zack’s execution for October 3 at 6:00 p.m. (More here.)
On Friday, post-warrant docket activity started in the Escambia County trial court with Notices of Appearance on behalf of Zack and the State’s Motion for Scheduling Order. The trial court held a status conference Monday (Aug. 21) afternoon, and an Order on First Case Management Conference and Notice of Filing Deadline and Hearings was docketed that afternoon. On Tuesday (Aug. 22), a transcript from Monday’s status conference was docketed.
There’s been further activity on the docket since—mostly related to public records requests. Zack has filed several public records requests, and governmental agencies have filed responses and objections to the requests.
The trial court held a hearing this morning via Zoom, and a Hearing Worksheet was docketed this afternoon.
Another status conference is set for next Wednesday (Aug. 30) at 9:00 a.m.
As of this post, no motion for postconviction relief has yet been filed.
According to the Florida Supreme Court’s Scheduling Order (available in this post), all trial court proceedings must be “completed and orders entered as expeditiously as possible, but no later than 5:00 p.m., Friday, September 1, 2023.”
Prior TFDP Coverage on Zack’s Warrant
The full background of Zack’s case is available here
The Florida Supreme Court’s Scheduling Order is available here.
Unfortunately, the docket items are not publicly available at this time, so I cannot provide much detail. Of course, I will post more as information becomes available.
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant and execution process.