Dennis Sochor’s execution is scheduled for July 14. Yesterday afternoon, in a special release of opinions, the Florida Supreme Court issued its decision in Sochor v. State, affirming the circuit court’s denial of Sochor’s postconviction claims filed after the Governor signed his death warrant.
Sochor raisd two claims in his motion below. First, Sochor “argued that the State violated Brady and Giglio by failing to disclose a 2022 letter sent to Sochor’s brother, Gary, from a detective with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. That letter sought any information that might lead to the recovery of Gifford’s body.” (Footnotes omitted.) Sochor did not appeal the denial of this claim.
Second, Sochor “raised a facial method-of-execution challenge to Florida’s three-drug lethal injection protocol, alleging violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, Sochor posited that the initial dose of etomidate is insufficient to render an inmate unconscious for more than five minutes, and the combination of etomidate and the other two drugs results in flash pulmonary edema where the lungs fill with fluid, making it difficult to breathe.” The Court determined this claim is untimely because “the alleged evidence supporting the assertions Sochor now makes has been available for years, including during Sochor’s previous postconviction litigation.” The Court further determined this claim is meritless, as it has in the past.
The decision was unanimous.
The full opinion can be accessed on the Court’s docket here.