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Florida's High Court Clears Way For July 1 Execution

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The Associated Press

Published: May 22, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Supreme Court cleared all state legal obstacles to the July 1 execution of child killer Mark Dean Schwab on Wednesday, but he could take his case to the federal courts.

Schwab would be the state's first inmate to be put to death since a 2006 moratorium on lethal injections.

The state justices unanimously denied a rehearing Wednesday and disposed of all other matters in Schwab's last appeal before them. They had ruled against Schwab in January, but the U.S. Supreme Court kept his execution on hold pending a decision on lethal injection in a Kentucky case.

The federal justices upheld the procedure last month and Monday allowed executions to resume in Florida.

Gov. Charlie Crist then set Schwab's new execution date. Crist ended a temporary moratorium on executions by signing Schwab's death warrant last July. Schwab, though, received a stay just four hours before he was scheduled to die in November.

Schwab, 39, was convicted of raping and murdering 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez Jr. in 1991 after posing as a newspaper reporter who wanted to write about the young surfer from Cocoa. The victim died from smothering or choking.

Attorneys for Schwab did not immediately return a telephone message left at their office seeking comment.

In a previous interview, one of his attorneys said Schwab could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or lower federal courts if the Florida Supreme Court denied a rehearing.

Gov. Jeb Bush halted executions after the botched lethal injection death of Angel Diaz, 55, in December 2006.

An investigation found needles had been pushed through Diaz's veins into his flesh, taking him twice as long as normal - 34 minutes - to die.

In his appeal to the Florida Supreme Court, Schwab's attorneys argued lethal injection is unconstitutional cruel or unusual punishment.

The federal justices rejected essentially the same argument in the case from Kentucky, which uses the same procedure as Florida.

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