[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLORIDA

[Rick Halperin]

March 2



FLORIDA----stay of impending execution

Supreme Court halts Florida's next-scheduled execution


The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the execution of Mark James Asay, 
just hours after hearing oral arguments in his case.

Asay, convicted in 1987 of 2 Jacksonville murders, was scheduled to be executed 
March 17. But a January ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hurst vs. Florida 
threw the state's death penalty into chaos.

Arguing before the state court Wednesday morning, Asay's lawyer, Martin 
McClain, invoked Hurst, saying that the problems raised by the U.S. Supreme 
Court in its ruling directly relate to Asay's case.

Asay, like the other residents on Florida's death row in Raiford, Fla., was 
convicted of his crimes by a unanimous jury but sentenced to death by the judge 
on the jury's recommendation. The Hurst ruling said that the juries must make 
the final decision on death sentences.

McClain -- who was also the lawyer for Michael Ray Lambrix and successfully 
stayed his execution last month -- argued that suggests the jury's verdict 
should be unanimous. In Asay's case, the jury recommendation came on a 9-3 
vote.

The Florida Supreme Court's unanimous ruling Wednesday doesn't say anything 
about the merits of Asay's case. It simply stops the execution, which was 
ordered by Gov. Rick Scott prior to the Hurst ruling.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)