by Jeb Bush
Seventeen years ago, Fred Way fractured the skulls of his wife and
15-year-old daughter with a hammer and burned them alive in a locked garage.
For these horrific crimes, a judge and jury recommended a death sentence,
which the Florida Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed in mid-April. Was their
decision a "mistake" or 'just-dessert' for a heartless killer?
A new Columbia Law School study says the Way decision and dozens like it
were the product of "serious error" and proof that Florida's death
penalty system is "broken." In fact, according to the study at least
73 percent of Florida death cases are "fraught with error."
Predictably, the study's release was lauded with front page headlines across
our State, and new calls for a moratorium on executions.
However, when my staff reviewed the limited data the study authors have
made publicly available, they were considerably less impressed.
First, they learned the study authors did not define "serious
error" as mistakes in the ordinary sense of the word, i.e., Florida
convicted the wrong man. In fact, the study's analysis of 64 state
post-conviction death penalty cases showed a zero percent error rate using
such a standard - Florida convicted the right man for the right crime every
time.
Second, the study dramatically overstated the number of cases where an
individual was sentenced to death based on a "mistake." For
instance, in more than a third of the post-conviction cases cited by the
study, the death sentence was reaffirmed after further review by the courts.
This includes the case of Fred Way, whose death sentence was reviewed again to
make sure it complied with changes in the law occurring while his case was on
appeal.
Way's case involved no mistake - just the careful due process that we
should expect from our judiciary in death penalty cases.
Other post-conviction cases cited by the study - such as the case of
Mauricio Beltran-Lopez - were resolved with life sentence pleas only to spare
further appeal-related trauma for the families of victims.
Incredibly, the study authors also characterize these cases as
error-filled.
Ironically, the study authors have some explaining to do about their own
errors in characterizing Florida death penalty cases. For instance, the study
authors mistakenly suggest that William Thompson's death sentence was reduced
to a lesser penalty because of errors in his case. In truth, William Thompson
remains on Florida's Death Row today for ramming a chair leg and a night stick
into a young woman and beating her to death with a chain belt.
Although the Columbia Law School study's flawed methodology and mistakes
make it difficult for me to place great stock in the authors' analysis, it is
important to focus on reducing any errors in death penalty cases.
Florida is a leader in this regard, having invested millions of dollars to
provide free post-conviction counsel to death row inmates. And our system has
been praised by unbiased observers as a model.
The Florida Legislature has also provided needed funding for judges
handling death penalty cases, including increases of 82 percent for our
Supreme Court and nearly 71 percent for lower courts over the past decade. In
addition, Florida's Cabinet is also committed to considering fully claims of
innocence through the clemency review process.
But we must do more than remain vigilant on the subject of error. We must
also reduce the extraordinary delays in capital cases. The loved ones of Fred
Way's victims have been waiting seventeen years for this killer to receive a
fair measure of justice. Likewise, the families of Danny Rolling's victims
have been waiting for almost a decade for his execution, even though this
five-time killer admitted guilt. This is unconscionable and must change.
Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature passed the Death Penalty Reform
Act of 2000, in an attempt to reduce delays in capital cases from 14 years to
an average of five years. This was a reasonable policy goal that balanced
defendants' due process rights with the need to resolve cases in a timely
fashion.
The Florida Supreme Court struck down the Act on separation of powers
grounds, but can still adopt the Legislature's suggestions as a Court-imposed
rule. The Court should do so, and without delay.
Most Floridians believe in the death penalty because they know it saves
innocent lives and punishes only the most heinous criminals. They want public
officials to review death cases carefully to avoid mistakes. But they also
know justice can be delivered with much greater dispatch. The Legislature and
I are committed to upholding the people's will in this regard, and we urge our
courts to join with us.
