364 So.3d 1017
Fla.2023Background
- Duane Owen murdered Georgianna Worden in 1984, was convicted and sentenced to death; his convictions and sentences have been repeatedly appealed and litigated over decades.
- Governor DeSantis signed a death warrant for the Worden murder on May 9, 2023; Owen filed a fourth postconviction motion under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and related motions after the warrant.
- Owen’s fourth 3.851 motion alleged (a) due-process violations in his earlier waiver of an evidentiary hearing, (b) newly discovered evidence of brain damage/declining competency, (c) severe mental illness as a bar to execution, and (d) that prolonged time on death row violates the Eighth Amendment.
- The circuit court summarily denied the 3.851 motion as untimely and procedurally barred (or not cognizable), and denied motions for competency determination and MRI/PET imaging; Owen appealed and sought a stay of execution.
- The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the summary denials, denied the competency and imaging motions (because they could not be tied to a viable substantive claim), and refused a stay or oral argument.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Validity of waiver of 3.850 evidentiary hearing / due process | Owen: waiver was invalid; court should have stayed hearing until Slattery retrial or conducted Faretta-type inquiry | State: claim is untimely and procedurally barred; waiver has been litigated and upheld previously | Affirmed — claim procedurally barred and untimely; prior rulings control; summary denial proper |
| Brain damage / newly discovered evidence; competency to litigate; MRI/PET requests | Owen: new imaging/medical evidence shows brain damage and declining competency; requests imaging and competency hearing | State: evidence not newly discovered (raised earlier), untimely, procedurally barred; imaging not tied to a cognizable postconviction claim | Affirmed — untimely and procedurally barred; competency and imaging motions denied |
| Mental illness as categorical bar to execution | Owen: severe mental illness/schizophrenia/ fixed delusions render execution unconstitutional under Eighth/Fourteenth | State: Florida precedent rejects a categorical bar for mental illness; no basis to overturn precedent | Affirmed — claim rejected under existing Florida precedent |
| Lengthy time on death row (cruel and unusual) | Owen: 37 years on death row violates the Eighth Amendment (citing Lackey) | State: Florida courts consistently reject prolonged-incarceration Eighth Amendment claims as facially invalid | Affirmed — claim not recognized; stay denied |
Key Cases Cited
- Owen v. State, 596 So. 2d 985 (Fla. 1992) (direct appeal of Owen’s convictions and sentencing)
- Owen v. State, 773 So. 2d 510 (Fla. 2000) (affirming denial of initial postconviction relief and waiver issues)
- Owen v. State, 854 So. 2d 182 (Fla. 2003) (affirming denial of subsequent postconviction claims)
- Owen v. State, 247 So. 3d 394 (Fla. 2018) (prior postconviction litigation addressing Hurst-era issues)
- Bogle v. State, 322 So. 3d 44 (Fla. 2021) (standard for summary denial of successive 3.851 motions)
- Walton v. State, 3 So. 3d 1000 (Fla. 2009) (de novo review and standards for summary denial of postconviction motions)
- Jones v. State, 709 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 1998) (test for newly discovered evidence in postconviction contexts)
- Branch v. State, 236 So. 3d 981 (Fla. 2018) (scientific/brain-development evidence not automatically newly discovered)