Cox v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida affirmed the summary denial of Allen Ward Cox’s successive motion for postconviction relief challenging Florida’s lethal-injection protocol, restrictions on counsel’s ability to pursue 42 U.S.C. § 1983 actions, and confidentiality of execution-team identities. The court’s per curiam majority relied on its prior decisions rejecting these claims, while separate opinions addressed the statutory scope of capital postconviction representation and mode-of-execution challenges.

Holdings

1. Cox's challenge to Florida's current lethal-injection protocol was meritless because the court had consistently rejected the same constitutional challenge.
2. The court rejected Cox's facial and as-applied constitutional challenge to sections 27.7001 and 27.702, Florida Statutes (2008), as interpreted to prohibit capital collateral counsel from filing mode-of-execution challenges under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
3. Cox's constitutional challenge to section 945.10, Florida Statutes (2008), based on restrictions on disclosure of execution-team members' identities was meritless.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Cox's constitutional challenge to Florida's current lethal-injection protocol entitled him to successive state postconviction relief.
2. Whether sections 27.7001 and 27.702, Florida Statutes (2008), were unconstitutional facially or as applied because they prevented capital collateral counsel from filing a mode-of-execution challenge under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
3. Whether section 945.10, Florida Statutes (2008), was unconstitutional because it restricted disclosure of execution-team members' identities and allegedly prevented Cox from assessing their qualifications and training.

Disposition

affirmed