Judge rejects move to stop Bobby Joe Long’s execution. Prosecutor: ‘He’s not entitled to pain free death.’

On Friday, Long’s attorneys argued in Hillsborough Circuit Court that the lethal drugs might cause a seizure.

TAMPA — A Tampa judge has denied an effort to stop the scheduled May 23 execution of Bobby Joe Long, a Tampa Bay area killer who murdered eight women in the 1980s.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Michelle Sisco issued an order Monday afternoon rejecting arguments from Long’s defense, including the contention that Florida’s lethal injection drugs might cause Long to have a seizure during the execution.

Long’s case now heads to the Florida Supreme Court. His defense must file initial arguments by Thursday and the state must respond by Monday. The defense can then respond to the state’s arguments by May 14, after which the court will decide whether oral arguments are necessary.

RELATED | Florida: Judge to rule whether lethal drug is 'cruel' for serial killer Bobby Joe Long

If the state high court denies Long’s claims, he can still make a final appeal in the federal system, with the last stop the U.S. Supreme Court.

The state’s lethal injection procedure was the focus of a daylong hearing Friday in a Tampa courtroom. Doctors testified about the effects of etomidate, a sedative that is the first of three drugs the state uses to kill the condemned.

Florida is the only state that uses etomidate in its lethal injection protocol. The state adopted the sedative in January 2017. Since then, five men have been executed. One of them, Eric Branch, screamed and thrashed on the death gurney as the lethal drugs entered his body. Opinions differed, though, about whether his final acts were a response to pain or simple theatrics.

The state’s previous execution procedure called for midazolam, a drug that has become difficult for states to acquire because pharmaceutical companies object to its use in executions.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Long’s death warrant last month in the murder of Michelle Denise Simms.

The 22-year-old former beauty contestant, who worked as a prostitute, was abducted, raped and murdered in May 1984.

Amid the debate over whether the drugs would cause needless suffering, prosecutors suggested that whatever happens to Long would be justified.

“He’s not entitled to a pain-free death,” said Assistant Attorney General Christina Pacheco. “Michelle Simms certainly didn’t have one in this case.”

In order to challenge the drug’s use, the law required the defense to argue that an alternative, less painful execution method was readily available. Long’s attorney, Robert Norgard, begrudgingly suggested the drugs pentobarbital or fentanyl might be available to the Department of Corrections.

“I think it is absolutely absurd that I have to stand up here and tell the courts what I think a better way would be to kill my client,” Norgard said at the end of Friday’s hearing. “But we’re playing with the cards we’re dealt.”

If Long’s execution proceeds, it will be the first under DeSantis, who took office in January. His predecessor, Rick Scott, ordered 28 executions, the most of any Florida governor.

Source: theledger.com, Dan Sullivan, May 6, 2019

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
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