{"id":208003,"date":"2026-03-27T07:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/208003\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T07:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:11:15","slug":"florida-supreme-court-stays-james-duckett-execution-over-dna-testing-in-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/208003\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Supreme Court stays James Duckett execution over DNA testing in murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Court documents show Florida\u2019s Supreme Court stayed the execution of James Duckett<\/a>, as court-ordered DNA testing has not been completed. <\/p>\n

Duckett was scheduled to be executed March 31.<\/p>\n

At question is a swab from the victim\u2019s underwear. <\/p>\n

Documents show Duckett filed a motion for more DNA testing after his death warrant was issued. <\/p>\n

The filing shows the state agreed it could make a difference in the case, and the circuit court granted the motion. <\/p>\n

That court allowed the state complete control over the location, timing, and method of the testing. <\/p>\n

In the court filing, it shows Duckett raised several claims, including that testing results would provide newly-discovered evidence that he is innocent. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Over the past four decades, Duckett has unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and death sentence.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Duckett\u2019s defense team issued the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019s innocence. Mr. Duckett and his defense team are grateful for the Court\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duckett is the grandfather of Trenton Duckett, the 2-year-old boy who was reported missing<\/a> from his mother\u2019s Leesburg apartment in 2006 and has never been found.<\/p>\n

James Duckett was on Florida\u2019s Death Row at the time his grandson vanished and is not a suspect in the toddler\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Court documents show Florida\u2019s Supreme Court stayed the execution of James Duckett, as court-ordered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[265,408,28,30,29,95312,2174,99,95313,95314],"class_list":["post-208003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-crime","tag-death-penalty","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-james-duckett","tag-lake-county","tag-politics","tag-teresa-mcabee","tag-trenton-duckett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}