TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected an appeal seeking to prevent the execution of Death Row inmate James Dailey in the 1985 murder of a 14-year-old girl in Pinellas County.
Dailey’s attorneys raised a series of issues, including arguments about what they said was newly discovered evidence in the case.
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Dailey, now 73, contends that another man, Jack Pearcy, is responsible for the murder of Shelly Boggio, whose nude body was found with multiple stab wounds floating in water near Indian Rocks Beach.
Pearcy was convicted in the murder and sentenced to life in prison, while Dailey was sentenced to death.
But the Supreme Court, in a 21-page ruling Tuesday, rejected the arguments about newly discovered evidence and other issues.
Gov. Ron DeSantis in September signed a death warrant for Dailey and scheduled the execution for Nov. 7.
But U.S. District Judge William Jung last month issued a stay of the execution through Dec. 30 because new attorneys were appointed to represent Dailey on Oct. 1.
Jung wrote that the attorneys in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Florida needed more time to review and make filings in the case.