Michael Duane Zack: Execution of convicted assassin on dying row since 1997 in Florida scheduled for Tuesday evening

CNN
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Michael Duane Zack III, who was convicted of the 1996 killings of two girls he met at bars alongside the Florida panhandle, is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. on the Florida State Jail, according to the state’s Department of Corrections.

The US Supreme Court docket on Monday denied a request to halt the execution of the dying row inmate after attorneys for Zack filed a keep of execution final week, courtroom data present.

Within the submitting, Zack’s attorneys allege a decrease courtroom was improper to “deny his declare that he’s intellectually disabled.”

“At trial, Zack’s protection counsel argued that Zack suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and posttraumatic stress dysfunction that are categorised as a mind dysfunction and a psychological impairment respectively,” according to a state capital case summary.

On Thursday, attorneys for the state of Florida filed a response opposing the keep of execution, courtroom data present.

The nation’s highest courtroom denied the enchantment Monday afternoon with out remark, courtroom data present.

In 1997, Zack was convicted and sentenced to dying for the June 1996 homicide of Ravonne Smith, whom he violently killed in her dwelling after assembly at a bar close to Pensacola, according to a state capital case summary. Zack obtained a life sentence for the homicide of Laura Rosillo at an Okaloosa County, Florida, seashore, whom he additionally met at a bar earlier than killing, in accordance with the case abstract.

“After his arrest, Zack confessed to the homicide of Ravonne Smith,” mentioned the case abstract.

Zack’s execution would be the eighth beneath Gov. Ron DeSantis and the sixth within the state this 12 months, according to state death row data.