FLORIDA, JEB BUSH ANNULLA SOSPENSIONE ESECUZIONE

NEW YORK, 6 FEB - Il governatore della Florida, Jeb Bush, ha annullato una decisione presa lo scorso dicembre di sospendere l'esecuzione di un condannato a morte, Amos King, per garantirgli un nuovo test del Dna. Il test, secondo Bush, non ha portato alcuna novita' e la Florida ha fissato il 26 febbraio come data per l'esecuzione di King.

   L'uomo e' stato condannato a morte per lo stupro e l'assassinio di Natalie Brady, 68 anni, avvenuto nel 1977. Il 2 dicembre scorso, il governatore Bush aveva bloccato la sua esecuzione solo un'ora e mezzo prima che King si stendesse sul lettino per l'iniezione letale.

   Il materiale organico utilizzato per il nuovo test, custodito fin dall'epoca del delitto, e' risultato troppo degradato per permettere di ricavare il Dna. King si proclama innocente e i suoi avvocati hanno promesso che tenteranno tutte le strade per fermare la sua esecuzione.

  06-FEB 2003

FLORIDA: Bush lifts stay, reschedules execution

 Gov. Jeb Bush lifted the stay of execution for Amos King on Wednesday and rescheduled his execution for Feb. 26, saying DNA testing didn't produce any new evidence in the case.

 King, 48, was convicted of raping and murdering Natalie Brady, 68, in her Tarpon Springs home in 1977.

 Bush granted King a stay in early December for additional DNA testing, but his office said Wednesday the tests sought by King's lawyers "failed to provide any new evidence."

 King was scheduled for execution 3 times last year but won reprieves. The first reprieve came from the U.S. Supreme Court, the 2nd from the Florida Supreme Court and the 3rd from Bush.

 The governor granted the third reprieve about 90 minutes before King would have been executed Dec. 2. A few hours earlier, New York attorney Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project had met with Bush's death penalty attorney to discuss what Bush called "previously untested evidence and further DNA testing that could possibly exonerate Amos King."

 King's state lawyers called the Innocence Project for help about 10 days earlier. They wanted to test three pubic hairs and scrapings from under Brady's fingernails and sought the group's help in pressing for time for the tests.

 Bush's office said little about the results of the DNA testing.

 "In an abundance of caution, I ordered additional testing of evidence in Amos King's case," Bush said in a statement released by his office. "That testing has been completed, and it failed to yield any new evidence."

 One of King's attorneys, Peter Cannon of Tampa, said he didn't know the test results were in.

 "It seems like it's not a real strong statement on the DNA," said Cannon, who was in Tallahassee for legislative committee hearings. "What we did not see in the governor's statement is that the DNA matched Amos King and that he has been proven conclusively to be the killer."

 Cannon said he would have to see the results before deciding what to do. But he said he would follow "all available options" to stop the execution, which is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 26.

 Abe Bonowitz, director of Floridians for Alternatives for the Death Penalty, said it was unfortunate the results didn't clear King. He said it also was unfortunate that key evidence could not be tested because it had been destroyed by a medical examiner.

 King's first two stays last year came as federal and state supreme courts were asked to consider whether Florida's death penalty law is similar to Arizona's law, which lets juries decide guilt but let judges alone decide the sentence. In Florida, juries convict and recommend a sentence, while judges make the final decision.

 Arizona's law was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.