Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office Thursday urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject a request to halt the scheduled April 12 execution of Death Row inmate Louis Gaskin.
This week, Gaskin’s attorneys filed a motion for a stay of execution and other arguments, contending in part that a jury was not given evidence of Gaskin’s mental illness before recommending that he be sentenced to death in the 1989 murders of a Flagler County couple.
But a response filed Thursday by Moody’s office said such arguments have already been resolved in earlier court rulings.
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“Not only are the claims procedurally barred and untimely, but they have also been fully litigated and held to be meritless as a matter of law under controlling Florida Supreme Court precedent,” the response said. Also, it said the state and “the surviving victims of Gaskin’s shooting spree have an enormous interest in the finality and timely enforcement of valid criminal judgments.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 13 signed a death warrant for Gaskin, who was convicted in the murders of Robert and Georgette Sturmfels during a burglary of their Flagler County home.
Gaskin, now 56, also received a life sentence after being convicted of attempted murder for shooting a man during a burglary at another home the same night, according to court documents.
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