Overview
- The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Walls’ bid to halt his Dec. 18 execution based on claims of intellectual disability and his age at the time of the 1987 murders.
- A separate emergency motion remains pending at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, after U.S. District Judge Mark Walker denied a stay and faulted Walls for filing too late.
- Walls’ lawsuit alleges Florida used an etomidate batch that expired Jan. 31, 2025 during four executions in August and September, documented gaps in drug logs, and prepared incorrect quantities after June executions.
- The complaint also cites the use of lidocaine outside the state’s protocol in earlier executions and contends record-keeping failures heightened the risk of a painful procedure.
- His attorneys say a July medical exam shows conditions that increase the risk of pulmonary edema during execution, while the state calls the filings an eleventh-hour delay tactic; Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant in November and the execution would be the year’s 19th if carried out.