TAVARES – A circuit court judge Wednesday denied death row inmate James Duckett’s appeal to have an independent DNA lab analyze inconclusive results he hoped would exonerate in the 1987 rape and murder of a child.
Duckett was a rookie Mascotte police officer on duty when Teresa McAbee was found floating in a lake.
Until recently, he has resisted testing a semen stain found on her panties because the sample would be destroyed in the procedure.
But with the clock ticking after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant for March 31, testing went forward. The Florida Supreme Court issued a stay of execution until the test could be completed. The death warrant is effective until April 7.
Circuit Judge Brian Welke wrote in his order that the Supreme Court’s stay of execution “does not indicate any testing beyond what was already ordered by this court. The results of the testing have now been reported, and no further testing remains to be done, nor is further testing possible.
“Even if the test results could be brought into doubt, this would not generate new evidence on which the defendant’s actual evidence claim could rest.”
He also denied the defense request for public records from various state agencies involved in the case.
The defense wanted the state to use the latest, most precise testing, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which the state lab is not equipped to do. So, DNA Labs International was selected for the test.
Duckett’s attorney, Mary Elizabeth Wells, wants another lab to analyze and explain those results. The defense hired Orthram Inc., to independently analyze the data.
“We have a way to determine if he should be included or excluded, and for us to stop this close to the finish line makes no sense to me,” she said.
Testing could have been done sooner, the state argued.
“This type of testing has been available for four years,” said Charmaine Millsaps with the state’s Attorney General’s office. She argued that Duckett’s decision to delay testing can be used under state statutes to show consciousness of guilt.
“The defendant could have raised this claim in a timely fashion to bring the SNP testing before the court without the burden of a large deadline, said Assistant State Attorney Ken Nunnelly. “They chose not to do that,”
Duckett has claimed his innocence from the beginning.
Wells, who has been his advocate for decades, attacked the credibility of witnesses, including an FBI lab analyst who said a single hair found in Teresa’s clothing was consistent with Ducklett’s. The hair, which did not have a root, could not be tested for DNA.
Another witness, who was a young teen at the time, who recanted her testimony saying she saw Teresa in Duckett’s patrol car.
Sheriff’s investigators pointed to tire tracks and fingerprints as proof that Duckett was guilty.
Polk County investigators say they believe that Duckett may have killed two girls in that county.
Wells, no doubt, will appeal Wednesday’s ruling.
