LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – DNA testing in the James Duckett murder case has come back inconclusive, according to Florida’s attorney general, and he is requesting that Duckett’s execution move forward.
The Florida’s Supreme Court stayed the execution of James Duckett on Thursday because those DNA tests were not completed.
Duckett was scheduled to be executed March 31.
At question is a swab from the victim’s underwear.
Documents show Duckett filed a motion for more DNA testing after his death warrant was issued.
The filing shows the state agreed it could make a difference in the case, and the circuit court granted the motion.
That court allowed the state complete control over the location, timing, and method of the testing.
In the court filing, it shows Duckett raised several claims, including that testing results would provide newly-discovered evidence that he is innocent.
Documents show the State has to show the circuit court the status of the testing no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, March 27.
That deadline has come and gone, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says that since the test is complete and inconclusive, it does not exonerate Duckett, and therefore, the stay of execution should be lifted.
We are waiting to hear from the Florida Supreme Court on its decision.
Duckett, a former Mascotte police officer, was set to be executed in the 1987 murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee, according to the death warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Over the past four decades, Duckett has unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and death sentence.
On Thursday, Duckett’s defense team issued the following statement:
“The stay of execution issued by the Florida Supreme Court today is a significant step toward preventing the irreversible harm that will result if the State of Florida executes an innocent man. James Duckett has steadfastly professed his innocence for the nearly four decades he has been on death row. DNA testing currently underway, as ordered by the circuit court, has the potential to conclusively establish Mr. Duckett’s innocence. Mr. Duckett and his defense team are grateful for the Court’s decision, recognizing the importance of ensuring that the testing proceeds in a careful, thorough, and orderly manner. We remain hopeful that the results will bring long-awaited clarity and justice.”
Duckett is the grandfather of Trenton Duckett, the 2-year-old boy who was reported missing from his mother’s Leesburg apartment in 2006 and has never been found.
James Duckett was on Florida’s Death Row at the time his grandson vanished and is not a suspect in the toddler’s disappearance.