TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court is demanding that DNA tested in the James Duckett murder case must be subjected to a statistical analysis, overturning a lower court’s ruling in the case.
Duckett, a former Mascotte police officer who is on death row for the murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee in 1987, has long maintained his innocence in the case.
In March, the Florida Supreme Court issued a rare stay of execution for Duckett, pending the results of DNA testing on evidence from McAbee’s underwear.
Those test results came back inconclusive.
[WATCH: DNA testing in James Duckett murder case inconclusive, Florida asks stay to be lifted]
Lake County Circuit Judge Brian Welke subsequently ruled that Duckett had exhausted his options and could not have the tests further analyzed, a ruling Duckett’s attorneys appealed.
On Thursday, the high court ruled the underlying DNA testing data could be sent out for an analysis and an opinion under the direction of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, agreeing with Duckett’s attorneys that without the analysis from the data, he had not been provided the complete testing results, which he was entitled to.
“As the State readily concedes, an expert testifying at trial must provide statistical calculations of the testing data when reporting DNA results,” Florida Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz wrote. “An expert cannot simply say there is a ‘match’ between the defendant’s DNA and the profile obtained from testing. Against this backdrop, the statute’s reference to ‘the results of DNA testing... be[ing] admissible at trial’ suggests that those ‘results’ include the testing data necessary for a DNA expert to offer an opinion at trial,”
The court also noted that the FDLE itself had suggested Duckett received incomplete testing results.
The high court, however, also denied Duckett’s request for additional public records, with information about the testing process and protocols from the private lab that conducted the DNA tests.