Florida Supreme Court Lifts Stay Clearing Path for James Duckett Execution

Nocatee, Florida — The Florida Supreme Court has lifted its stay of execution for James Duckett, a former Central Florida police officer who has spent decades on death row, clearing the way for the state to set a new execution date.

Duckett, a former Mascotte police officer, was convicted in the 1987 murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. He has maintained his innocence and has been held under a death sentence for more than three decades.

In March, the high court issued a rare stay of execution while DNA testing was completed on evidence from the case. The analysis was ultimately inconclusive.

"The dataset did not contain sufficient information to support a reliable contributor conclusion," the court wrote in its order.

In its July 8 decision, the court affirmed a circuit court's denial of Duckett's fifth successive postconviction motion, denied his habeas petition, and lifted the previously entered stay. The court said that because the underlying question had been resolved, it would not revisit the earlier decisions.

It remains unclear when Duckett will be executed. No new death warrant has been issued since the stay was lifted, according to court records and reporting on the decision.

Nocatee is an unincorporated, master-planned community in St. Johns County and one of the fastest-growing areas in Florida. Capital punishment in the state is administered through the Florida Supreme Court and carried out by the Florida Department of Corrections, independent of where a defendant was tried or convicted.

Sources:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/07/08/florida-supreme-court-lifts-stay-of-execution-for-james-duckett/

https://fladeathpenalty.substack.com/p/breaking-florida-supreme-court-lifts