Entries tagged with “Samuel Smithers”
Executions
Botched Executions
,Oct 08, 2025
Upcoming Executions Illustrate Persistent Themes and Concerns Around the Death Penalty
October 9, 2025 UPDATE: On October 9, 2025, just a week before his scheduled execution, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) granted Robert Roberson a stay of execution and remanded his case to the district court for further consideration of his request for relief based upon relief offered in a similar case, Ex parte Roark. Like Mr. Roberson’s case, Ex parte Roark, also involved a conviction based the now discredited “Shaken Baby Syndrome Hypothesis” (SBS) and the CCA granted relief to Mr.
Upcoming Executions
,Sep 29, 2025
Counsel Seeks to Challenge Rare Execution of 72-Year-Old Florida Prisoner on Constitutional Grounds in Florida Supreme Court
With just weeks remaining before his scheduled execution, attorneys for 72-year-old Samuel Lee Smithers are appealing the dismissal of their motion filed September 19, 2025, arguing that executing an elderly person violates both Florida and the U.S. Constitutions’ prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and fails to meet any valid penological justification. On September 22, 2025, the Hillsborough County Circuit Court denied Mr. Smithers’ request for an evidentiary hearing to consider…