June 14 (UPI) — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a motion Tuesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject further inmate appeals so the state can move forward with its execution of Duane Owen, 62, Thursday.
Owen was convicted of the 1984 murders of Georgianna Worden, 38 and a mother of two, and 14-year-old babysitter Karen Slattery.
His lawyers argue that he “lacks a rational understanding of the connection between his crime and impending execution due to his fixed psychotic delusions and dementia,” in a filing Monday, saying Owen is not competent to be executed.
Owen’s lawyers argue that it would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment, to execute Owen’s by lethal injection.
“Florida has a minimal interest in finality and efficient enforcement of judgements, but Owen, whose delusions and dementia prevent him from rationally understanding the consequences of his execution, has a right in ensuring that his execution comports with the Constitution,” Owens’ legal team wrote in their filing.
Moody said Owen’s legal team was reiterating previous arguments in a filing Tuesday.
“Now before this court, just days before his scheduled execution, Owen repackages most of the same evidence as a claim that he is insane to be executed,” Moody wrote.
Moody said the actions by Owen’s legal team’s “argument is another futile attempt to have this court reweigh the evidence.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant for Owen on May 9.
The state’s Supreme Court ruled last week, in two separate decisions, that his execution can go ahead.
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