Entries tagged with “Tommy Zeigler”
Issues
Jan 10, 2023
47 Years After His Death Sentence, Florida Court Orders DNA Testing for Tommy Zeigler
Nearly 47 years after being convicted of a quadruple murder, Florida death-row prisoner Tommy Zeigler has finally been permitted to independently conduct new DNA testing on evidence he claims will prove his innocence. Circuit Court Judge Patricia L. Strowbridge approved Zeigler’s request for DNA testing in October 2022. As soon as her ruling was finalized in December, more than 100 pieces of previously untested evidence were shipped to a California lab to be tested at Zeigler’s own expense.
Issues
Oct 31, 2022
Florida Trial Court Conditionally Approves DNA Testing for Tommy Ziegler in 46-Year-Old Death Penalty Case
In what the Tampa Bay Times described as “an epic turnaround” in a 46-year-old capital case, a Florida trial judge is poised to order DNA testing of evidence death-row prisoner Tommy Zeigler has long asserted will prove him innocent of the quadruple murder for which he was convicted and sentenced to death in 1975. On October 27, 2022, Circuit Court Judge Patricia L. Strowbridge indicated she was likely to sign an order directing the production of physical evidence, including guns, fingernail…
Issues
Jul 07, 2022
Florida Supreme Court Rejects State Attorney General’s Attempt to Block DNA Testing in 46-Year-Old Death Penalty Case
The Florida Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to prevent DNA testing and fingerprint analysis of evidence lawyers for Henry Sireci (pictured) say could prove him innocent of a murder that sent him to death row 46 years ago. State prosecutors had sought to vacate two orders entered by the trial court on May 10, 2021 giving court approval to separate agreements between county prosecutors and counsel for Sireci and a second death-row prisoner, Tommy…
Issues
Nov 05, 2021
Florida Attorney General Appeals Ruling Allowing DNA Testing for Prisoners Who Have Been on Death Row More than 40 Years
The Florida Attorney General’s office has taken steps to block DNA testing agreed to by local prosecutors and approved by the trial court for two Florida death-row prisoners who have professed their innocence for more than four decades. Attorney General Ashley Moody has announced she will appeal an October 15, 2021 ruling by Florida Circuit Court Judge Wayne C. Wooten that her office lacked standing to contest Wooten’s prior order granting DNA testing to death-row prisoner Henry Sireci. Moody…
Issues
Jun 09, 2021
Florida Attorney General Fights to Block DNA Testing that Local Prosecutor Approved for Two Prisoners Who Have Been on Death Row More Than Four Decades
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (pictured) has filed motions in a Florida trial court seeking to block DNA testing that the local elected State Attorney had agreed to and a judge had granted in two 45-year-old Orange County death penalty cases. In pleadings filed June 1 and June 2, 2021 in the Florida Ninth Circuit Court, Moody objected to DNA testing for Tommy Zeigler and Henry Sireci, both of whom were sentenced to death in 1976 and have long asserted their innocence. Six of Ziegler’s…
Issues
Mar 30, 2020
After Unanimous House Passage, Florida Senate Fails to Enact DNA Reforms
After receiving unanimous support in the Florida House of Representatives, a bill that would have expanded access to postconviction DNA testing failed in the Florida Senate when the legislative body adjourned its 2020 legislative session without taking up the bill. Introduced by State Representative Jamie Grant (pictured, R – Tampa) on February 5, 2020, CS/HB 7077 sailed through the House of Representatives with ease, passing the House Appropriations Committee on February 18 by a vote of 27 – 0…
Issues
Feb 07, 2020
States Continue to Oppose DNA Testing in Death Penalty Appeals, Attorneys Ask Why Don’t They Want to Learn the Truth?
The last three men scheduled for execution in Georgia said they did not commit the killing and that DNA testing that was not available at the time of trial could prove it. In two of the cases, victim family members supported the request for testing. Prosecutors opposed the requests, and the courts refused to allow the testing. Two of the three men were executed, with doubts still swirling as to their guilt. Shawn Nolan, a federal defender who represented Georgia prisoner Ray “Jeff” Cromartie…
Issues
Dec 21, 2018
18 Years After Enacting DNA Law, Florida Death-Row Prisoners Are Still Being Denied Testing
Florida courts have refused death-row prisoners access to DNA testing seventy times, denying 19 men – eight of whom have been executed – any testing at all and preventing nine others from obtaining testing of additional evidence or more advanced DNA testing after initial tests were inconclusive. For a six-part investigative series, Blood and truth: The lingering case of Tommy Zeigler and how Florida fights DNA testing, Tampa Bay Times Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist Leonora…