10 20 256 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/0c7745f1b36406e41441ac9aef9131c0.jpg adf345c2c338b4d76b74efe90903a218 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/1f9c2d0044559bc97d6a134564364629.jpg 3aff514163449f12014babed2d969283 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [start of page one] [header] Despite the lack of paperwork, some justices seem to favor caution in the case, but has been under various appeals for the last 20 years and which the state wants to conclude. [title] Court Faces a Quandary on Spaziano [start of the first column] TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s Supreme Court appears torn over the plight of Joseph ”Crazy Joe” Spaziano, facing execution in 13 days for murder he claims he didn't commit. It's clear from a heated debate at the court Thursday that justices are torn over a lack of proper paperwork and last-minute pleadings in the case. They are torn to buy the news that the central figure in Spaziano’s 1976 [end of the first column] [start of the second] [image]Spaziano [start of the second column] conviction for the killing of 18 year old Laura Harberts says he lied when he tied Spaziano to the murder. Despite the lack of paperwork, some justices seem to favor caution and the case, which has been under various appeals for the last 20 years and which the state wants to conclude. “Remember, the U.S. Supreme Court has said death is different,” Justice Gerald Cogan said Thursday. Incredulously, Cogan ass Estates prosecutor: ”It's up to us? As a court? 'To say, ‘We're sorry, Mr. Spaziano, you cannot get any relief fromus, despite the fact that there may be evidence out there that you should get a new trial? It's tough, Mr. Spaziano, we're going to electrocute you because of all the stuff should have been done before?'“ It's unknown when, or how the court will rule on Spaziano’s plea to [end of the second column] [start of the third column] postpone an execution scheduled for Sept. 21 at Florida State Prison near Starke. This is Spaziano’s fifth appointment with electric chair since 1985. Witness Recants Spaziano’s lawyer, working without pay and without benefit of hiring investigators, is asking for time and money. He wants to show that he witnessed Tony DiLisio was lying in 1975 when he testified that Spa- [end of third column] [start of the second page] [Image with caption] In court: Chief Justice Stephen Grimes, left, and Justice Leander Shaw Jr. have conference. [start of the fourth column]  ziano, a member of The Outlaws motorcycle gang, let him to a wooded site and showed him the body of Harberts and another unidentified woman. This year, DiLisio told the herald that he invented the tail and lied on the stand. Spaziano never showed him anybody's, says DiLisio. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and an inquiry prompted by DiLisio's recantation, concluded that DiLisio told his original story to so many people at the time that he was voicing the truth and lying today. On the strength of this report, which has not been made public, Governor Lawton Chiles ordered Spaziano’s execution. The Supreme Court, particularly senior Justice bin Overton and Justice Harry Lee Anstead, expressed concern that Spaziano’s attorney, Michael Mello, had it included an affidavit from DiLisio that he has recanted his testimony. DiLisio said Thursday that he's ready to sign an affidavit. ”We can put it on the fax machine to them right now if they want,” he said. ”What's the big deal?” DiLisio's attorney, Kelly McGraw, said Mello ask for the affidavit earlier this summer. ”He [end of the fourth column] [start of the fifth column] [image] Associated Press [caption] Appeal for time; Michael Mello. attorney for Joseph Spaziano makes his case. [text resumes] asked me to do it, we meant to do it, we just didn't get around to it,” she said.”We have no problem in doing one.” ‘Out of Claims’ Margene Roper, Assistant Attorney General, argued that Spaziano faced his last legal chance in the governor's examination of the case. ”For the past 20 years Joseph Spaziano has had fly-specking [end of the fifth column] [start of the sixth column]  review from all the courts,” she said.”Mr Spaziano is out of claims.” Justice Overton counted the times the court has reviewed Spaziano's death sentence - eight - and complained that Mello didn't come in January after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review it an execution appeared imminent. Overton added angrily:”you have not filed in this record anything that says, quotation I swear quotation. . . An oath by DiLisio.” Mello said he lives in Vermont, and that DiLisio in Pensacola, and that DiLisio is ”difficult to deal with." “If I messed up and not filing. . . In January, please don't take that out on my client,” Mello said. Justice Leander Shaw sounded sympathetic toward Mello’s argument. ”He is out of resources,” Shaw said of Spaziano, ”he has no investigator.” Imagine this were you, days away from death, shot told the prosecutor :”why shouldn't he be given a continuance, to see if he can get an investigator for one thing? “I'll grant you,” Kogan agreed that Spaziano’s appeal should already have been filed. ”But we are to tell him that, with all that information out there, we're going to let your execution procedure becaU.S.e the attorney didn't file the right motion?” Herald staff writer Lori Rozsa contributed to this report. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Williams, Megan Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Court faces a quandary on Spaziano Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Spaziano, Joseph Description An account of the resource The Florida Supreme Court appeals torn over Joseph Spaziano's appeal to prevent his execution for a murder he claims he did not commit. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Silva, Mark Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Hearald Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 300 dpi 2 JPGs Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/e5aaa56964a24ee4c657192bcb37aac5.jpg dabcc563148ac53e6e1c049b4a2a298a https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/2952d4f5cd491d3281d02dd1316d0299.jpg 7b025e2bf814cdf5c10de13c78263cec Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document <div>[start of page 1]</div> <div>[header] </div> <div>Florida Supreme Court </div> <div>Court hears Spaziano's death appeal</div> <div></div> <div>[subheading] </div> <div>An attorney for convicted murder Joseph Spaziano says his client deserves a chance to prove his innocence.</div> <div></div> <div>[start of the first column]</div> <div>An attorney for Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano asked the state Supreme Court for a chance to prove his client is not guilty of the murder that is sending him to the electric chair in two weeks. </div> <div></div> <div>A lawyer for the state, however, urged the justices not to stay on Spaziano’s execution on “mere speculation.”</div> <div></div> <div>After hearing oral arguments Thursday, Florida’s high court will make a decision at its own discretion; Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to be executed Sept. 21 for the murder and mutilation of an Orlando woman 22 years ago. </div> <div></div> <div>During the hour-long hearing, justices and lawyers had exchanges about testimony at a trial held nearly 20 years ago, about judicial procedure, about the role of the state’s high court in reviewing capital cases. </div> <div></div> <div>“The proceeding before us has taken a rather free form,” Justice Harry Lee Anstead told Spaziano attorney Michael Mello. “This is the way you have approached this case before the court and it’s obviously causing us considerable difficulty.” </div> <div></div> <div>Mello, a Vermont law professor, has filed hundreds of pages of pleadings before Florida’s high court, but he began his presenta-</div> <div>[end of the first column]</div> <div></div> <div>[start of the second column] [image]</div> <div>[Capition] Spaziano </div> <div>He is scheduled to be executed Sept. 21 for the murder and mutilation of an Orlando woman 22 years </div> <div>[text resumes]</div> <div>tion by telling justices that all the issues were secondary because his client did not kill Laura Harberts. The 18-year-old hospital clerk’s body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump in August 1973. </div> <div> “I believe that if I had an opportunity to prove Mr. Spaziano’s innocence before a jury, he would be acquitted,” Mello said. “All I’m asking for… is a star of execution and the provision of resources.”</div> <div></div> <div>Witness’s recantation not enough for Chiles</div> <div> Anthony Dilisio, a key prosecution witness in Spaziano’s trial, recanted his testimony earlier this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano’s fourth death warrant. </div> <div> However, after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by Dilisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month. </div> <div> Mello questioned the reliability of the FDLE investigation, which the governor has refused to release, as “supersecret information that supposedly reliable witnesses supposedly told FDLE that supposedly correctly reported to the governor.” [end of the second column] [start of the third column] <div>[image] Mark Foley/ The Assoicated Press </div> <div>[Capition] "I believe that if I had an opportunity to prove Mr. Spaziano's innocence before a jury, he would be acquitted," attorney Michael Mello said. </div> [text resumes] </div> <div> But Instead questioned the strength of Mello’s appeal before Florida’s high court. </div> <div> If Mello had filed the proper motion in trial court, he would have been required to meet two tests, Instead said. The first test is whether the recanted testimony was substantial enough to undercut Spaziano’s conviction; the second is whether the issue should have been raised earlier. </div> <div> Instead asked Mello if he could have jumped through “those two ordinary hoops.” </div> <div> “I can’t imagine new evidence more substantial than a disavowal of the critical testimony by the wit- [end of the third column] [start of second page] [start of the fourth column] ness,” Mello answered. </div> <div> Justice Ben Overton then interrupted the attorney, asking why he had not presented an affidavit from Dilisio recanting his testimony. </div> <div> “You have not filed in this record anything that says ‘I swear’, an oath by Dilisio,” Overton said. </div> <div> Justice Gerald Kogan did most of the questioning of Margene Roper, an assistant attorney general who presented the state’s case. </div> <div> Roper began by arguing that Spaziano had exhausted all his legal claims and was turning to Florida’s high court with issues that properly belonged before a trial court or the governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Clemency Board. </div> <div> </div> <div>Attorney: Spaziano shouldn’t die over procedural matters </div> <div> Kogan asks how the justices, regardless of the procedural problems, could ignore the issue of Dilisio’s recantation. </div> <div> “Apparently there is an allegation out there- and a strong one that the prime witness against the defendant in this particular case has recanted his testimony,” Kogan said. </div> <div> “Do we sit back and say ‘OK… It’s tough, Mr. Spaziano, we’re going to electrocute you because all these things should have been done before’?” Kogan asked. </div> <div> Roper replied the case should be seen by another court, disputed that Division had recanted his trial testimony in the FDLE interview and argued he hadn’t recanted his sworn testimony in pre-trial depositions. </div> <div> “It takes more than speculation after 20 years of litigation and fly-specking review by court upon court to stay an execution,” she said. [end of the fourth] [end article]</div> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Court hears Spaziano's death appeal Subject The topic of the resource capital punishment Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hallifax, Jackie Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Tallahasse Democrat Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource Michael Mello, Joseph Spaziano's attorney believes Spaziano deserves a chance to prove his innocence. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 300 dpi 2 JPGs https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/382ba8c59dd7b6b9e9e27e4251ff1c3e.jpg da96640e34aa758d57820e080d617a4e https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/725139e9fa6f840e079ee0a225f7fbd6.jpg 8526a7ffb27c92a62a20302374178097 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [start of the first page] [header] High court considers Spaziano [sub-header] ‘Free form’ appeal requests new trial By Michael Griffin TALLAHASSEE BUREAU CHIEF [start of the first column] TALLAHASSEE—A lawyer for Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano took his client’s claim of innocence to the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday in perhaps the last appeal for the biker convicted of killing an Orlando woman. The court did not rule immediately but is expected to act soon—Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to die in the electric chair on Sept. 21. In unusual oral arguments for what Justice Harry Lee Anstead described as a “free form” appeal, Spaziano’s attorney asked the court to order a new trial since a key witness in the 1976 trial has changed his story. “Mr. Spaziano is innocent, he’s actually innocent and I want to be very clear on that,” Vermont law professor Michael Mello told the seven justices. “If I had the opportunity to prove Mr. Spaziano’s innocence before a jury, he would be acquitted.” Assistant Attorney General Margene Roper argued that Spaziano had his chances during 19 years of appeals, including four treks to the state Supreme Court, two appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court and two requests for clemency from the governor. Gov. Lawton Chiles rejected the second clemency bid two weeks ago and signed Spaziano’s fifth death warrant. “He is out of claims and clemency is the proper proceeding,” Roper said. “He went that route and quarrels with the result so now he comes here.” Both attorneys came under sharp challenges by justices. Anstead told Mello that his appeal does not specifically argue any discernible point of law and that it did not address two basic criteria: Is the new evidence he is presenting compelling enough to alter the original verdict, and why the new evidence was not brought forth sooner? Justice Ben Overton asked Mello why his 1,500-page appeal, which includes newspaper clippings and folk song lyrics, did not include a written statement from Anthony DiLisio, who now denies that Spaziano showed him the body of 18-year-old Laura Harberts at an Altamonte Springs dump in 1973. [end of the first column] [end of the first page] Please see Spaniazo, D-4 [end page one] [start page two] [header] Lawyer may appeal again to U.S. court SPAZIANO from D-1 [start of the second column] “You have not filed a statement from DiLisio that his testimony is false,” Overton said. “You have not filed anything in this record that says ‘I swear,’ an oath by DiLisio.” Mello said DiLisio had refused to sign such an affidavit and “he is difficult to deal with.” Mello later told reporters that DiLisio “doesn’t like to sign things” and was afraid he could be charged with perjury if he signed an affidavit. But Kelli McGraw, DiLisio’s attorney in Pensacola, said her client always has been willing to sign an affidavit and offered it to Mello months ago. She said he never got back to her. “We’re scrambling to get Tony now,” McGraw said Thursday. “He swears what he says now is true and he’s willing to sign a sworn, notarized affidavit.” Justices Gerald Kogan and Leander Shaw expressed concern over Mello’s claim that he lacks money to hire investigators for Spaziano’s defense. “There is an allegation out there [end of the second column] [start of the third column] and it is a strong one,” Kogan said. What is Mr. Spaziano to do?” Mello told reporters after the hearing he would probably not appeal the case anywhere else but to the U.S. Supreme Court because he [end of the third column] [start of the fourth column] thinks he would lose at appellate levels. “I came in here thinking there was a 1 percent chance for a stay,” Mello said. “Now I think it’s 2 percent.” [end of the fourth column] [Photograph by Associated Press; photo caption]: Attorney Michael Mello maintains Joseph Spaziano’s innocence before the Supreme Court. Spaziano is scheduled to be executed in 2 weeks. [end of article] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Shiflett, Maddie Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource High court considers Spaziano Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment.--United States.--History. Spaziano, Joe. Lawyer.--Mello, Michael. Description An account of the resource Michael Mello, lawyer for Joseph Spaziano, claimed that Spaziano was innocent at the Florida Supreme Court after a witness from a previous trial in 1976 changed his story. Those in disagreement with Mello’s claim questioned why the information never came out before. The witness had not yet filed an official statement acknowledging that he changed his story. Mello argued that the witness refused to do so. Mello planned to go to the Supreme Court with the case because he had no confidence in his chances at the appellate level. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Griffin, Michael Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Griffin, Michael. "High Court Considers Spaziano." Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, FL capital punishment Florida death penalty Florida Supreme Court Joe Spaziano lawyer Michael Mello trial witness https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/f8a2b0cd7fa77fd4569a3b134f422752.jpg d6386fb8cac87487defb43e39c4c9f9b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Title] Spaziano awaits decision [Author] The Associated Press [Begin article] Tallahassee--An attorney for Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano asked the state supreme court for a chance to prove his client is innocent of the murder sending him to the electric chair in two weeks. A lawyer for the state, however, urged the justices not to stay Spaziano's execution on "mere speculation." After hearing oral arguments Thursday, Florida's high court will make a decision at its own discretion; Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to be executed Sept, 21 for the murder-mutilation of an Orlando woman 22 years ago. During the hour-long hearing, justices and lawyers had exchanges about testimony at a trial held nearly 20 years ago, about judicial procedure, about the role of the state's high court in reviewing capital cases. "The proceeding before us has taken a rather free form," Justice Harry Lee Anstead told Spaziano attorney Michael Mello. "This is the way you have approached this case before the court, and it's obviously causing us considerable difficulty." Mello, a Vermont law professor, has filed hundreds of pages of pleadings before Florida's high court, but he began his presentation by telling justices that all the issues were secondary because his client did not kill Laura Lynn Harberts. The 18-year-old hospital clerk's body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump in August 1973. "I believe that if I had an opportunity to prove Mr. Spaziano's innocence before a jury, he would be acquitted," Mello said. "All I'm asking for...is a stay of execution and the provision of resources." Anthony Dilisio, a key prosecution witness in Spaziano's trial, recanted his testimony earlier this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano's fourth death warrant. However, after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by Dilisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month. Mello questioned the reliability of the FDLE investigation, which the governor has refused to release, as "supersecret [sic] information that supposedly reliable witnesses supposedly told FDLE that supposedly correctly reported to the governor." But Anstead questioned the strength of Mello's appeal before Florida's high court. "I can't imagine new evidence more substantial than a disavowal of the critical testimony by the witness," Mello answered. If Mello had filed the proper motion in trial court, he would have been required to meet two tests, Anstead said. The first test is whether the recanted testimony was substantial enough to undercut Spaziano's conviction; the second is whether the issue should have been raised earlier. Anstead asked Mello if he could have jumped through "those two ordinary hoops." Justice Ben Overton then interrupted the attorney, asking why he had not presented an affidavit from Dilisio recanting his testimony. [end article] [image by photographer Smith, Dede; Spaziano talks about his scheduled execution at Florida State Prison] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper article Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. O'Neill, Christopher Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spaziano awaits decision Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Spaziano, Joe Description An account of the resource Convicted murderer, Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano awaits decision from Florida Supreme Court regarding his request for a stay of execution. Spaziano is due to be sent to the electric chair in two weeks. His attorney, Michael Mello, argues that Spaziano is innocent, citing faulty testimony from Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Associated Press Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Associated Press. "Spaziano Awaits Decision," The Gainesville Sun, September 8, 1995 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpg 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, Florida capital punishment Florida Supreme Court Joe Spaziano https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b89ae1c1f1a3e2ba7487c943d91c6d0b.jpg 73a6f7c5fcda20c6fd64c63f0abd0d22 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. DiBenedetto, Ashleigh Text Any textual data included in the document [header] The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Friday, September 8, 1995 [heading] Florida Report Arguments heard in death appeal By Jackie Hallifax Associated Press [start of column 1] Tallahassee— An attorney for Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano asked the state Supreme Court for a chance to prove his client is innocent of the murder sending him to the electric chair in two weeks. A lawyer for the state, however, urged the justices not to stay Spaziano’s execution on “mere speculation.” After hearing oral arguments yesterday, Florida’s high court will make a decision at its own discretion. Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to be executed Sept. 21 for the murder-mutilation of an Orlando woman 22 years ago. During the hourlong hearing, justices and lawyers had exchanges about testimony at a trial held nearly 20 years ago, about judicial procedure, about the role of the state’s high court in reviewing capital cases. “The proceeding before us has taken a rather free form,” Justice Harry Lee Anstead told Spaziano attorney Michael [end of column one] [begin column two] Mello. “This is the way you have approached this case before the court and it’s obviously causing us considerable difficulty.” Mello, a Vermont law professor, has filed hundreds of pages of pleadings, before Florida’s high court, but he began his presentation by telling justices that all the issues were secondary because his client did not kill Laura Lynn Harberts. The 18-year-old hospital clerk’s body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump in August 1973. “I believe that if I had an opportunity to prove MR. Spaziano’s innocence before a jury, he would be acquitted,” Mello said. Anthony Dilisio, a key prosecution witness in Spaziano’s trial, recanted his testimony this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano’s fourth death warrant. However, after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by Dilisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month. [end column two] Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Arguments heard in death appeal Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 dpi Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Jacksonville, FL Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jackie Hallifax Subject The topic of the resource Capital Punishment Lawton, Chiles Description An account of the resource Death row inmate requests appeal in case two weeks before execution. Capital punishment. Chiles Lawson death penalty Michael A. Mello https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/6985a724f97238a911fa57ad9e7c4b76.jpg 3bcd46f723fa9fc467834180ccd20b34 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/1b435125664c55a69b98bf4654552c15.jpg 67dae28006277af76f2b0a4f464a48a4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Scott, Christina Text Any textual data included in the document [first page] [photo caption: Joseph Spaziano] [heading] Spaziano case sent to Sanford for appeal [subheading] The state Supreme Court said a lower court should decide whether to stay his execution. By Michael Griffin and Jim Leusner Of the sentinel staff [start of the first column] TALLAHASSEE- The Florida Supreme Court refused Fri-day to halt the execution of Joseph ”Crazy Joe” Spaziano, but ordered a Sanford court to hear new evidence that a key witness in the 1976 murder trial lied. [end of first column] [beginning of 2 column] In a split decision, the justices determined the state’s high court had no reason to consider the appeal, since Spaziano’s at-torney was arguing his case in the wrong court. But they also agreed the issues raised could be compelling enough for a low-er court to grant a stay. All the justices agreed the matter should be heard this fri-day in Sanford. Three of the sev-en judges dissented in part, ar-going that Spaziano, 49, should get an immediate stay. The ruling sets up a scramble by lawyers to prepare for a hear-in just six days before Spa-ziano’s scheduled Sept. 21 ex-ecution for the 1973 mutilation and murder of Orlando hospital clerk Laura Lynn Harberts. Anthony Frank DiLisio, the witness who put Spaziano on death row with his testimony, likely will have to tell a judge and a prosecutor he lied and continued to lie for 20 years. Art Harberts, Laura Har- Please see SPAZIANO, A-11 [end of column 2] [beginning of column 3] [header] DiLisio now says he lied on purpose SPAZIANO from A-1 Berts’ father, said he will attend the hearing and expressed dismay that DiLisio “can’t or won’t get his story straight.” The last time he saw DiLisio was at the trial, when DiLisio, then 17, was the star witness. “Tony impressed me as a good kid,” Harberts said. “He apologized to us, you know, Laura’s family, for not coming forward sooner and sav-night us all the anguish.” A key factor in Friday’s ruling appears to be an affidavit filed by Spa-ziano attorney Michael Mello in which DiLisio swears for the first time that he lied at the trial. [end of column 3] [beginning of second page] [start of the first column] “I never, under any circum-stances, went to the dump sight [sic] with Joseph Spaziano,” the affidavit reads. “I went there in the company of law enforcement investigators.” It is the first statement DiLisio has made under oath since the trial, in which said Spaziano bragged about raping and killing women, then showed him the bodies of Har-Bert’s and an unidentified woman at a dump near Altamonte Springs. It is the latest version of the story DiLisio has given since he first told The Miami Herald in a June that his testimony was false. Shortly after that, DiLisio told Florida Department of Law Enforce-ment agents that he thought police drugged during hypnosis and planted the memories. The inter-view was videotaped, but FDLE spokesman Liz Hirst said Friday that DiLisio was not under oath when he made the statements. Later he told The Orlando Sentinel he remembered going to the dump with Spaziano but thought those memories were planted in his mind through hypnosis. DiLisio also said Seminole County sheriff’s de-tective George Abbgy, who has since died, had threatened to charge him with complicity in the crimes if he did not implicate Spaziano. And on Friday, in a column in The Miami Herald, DiLisio was quoted as saying: “It came from me. Nobody could program me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I wanted to do it. But it was false.” Those versions vary from sworn statements DiLisio gave two dec-ages ago. On May 13, 1975, detectives taped DiLisio recalling how Spaziano bragged about mutilating and kill-night women. The teen offered to be hypnotized to help him recall more. At the time, Floridians law allowed hypnosis-enhanced testimony. DiLisio was hypnotized May 15 and 16, 1975. During the second ses-Simon he described going to the dump with Spaziano and seeing and smelling the bodies. He said he had tried to forget it. [end of column 4] [beginning of column 5] Questioned by Spaziano’s lawyer and a prosecutor on Nov. 12, 1975, DiLisio said again that the biker he once idolized had taken him to the dump and displayed the bodies. During the January 1976 trial, DiLisio, again under oath, told ju-rots the same story, even after his life had been threatened by Spa-ziano’s associates from the Outlaws motorcycle gang. Former Assistant State Attorney Claude Van Hook, who prosecuted Spaziano, said he thinks DiLisio told the truth during the trial but is now recanting out of fear. Van Hook said DiLisio withstood tough questioning by Spaziano’s attorney, Ed Kirkland, and never wa-veered when facing Outlaws men-bears who attended the trial. Kirk-land called DiLisio a “great witness” for prosecutors. “This young man had the ring of truth,” Van Hook said. “He was afraid of Spaziano’s associates and still had the intestinal fortitude to get on the stand and tell the truth. Who would believe he lied?” Mello could not be reached for comment Friday. He refused to speak to The Orlando Sentinel. Gov. Lawton Chiles, who signed a fifth warrant for Spaziano after an FDLE investigation turned up wit-nesses to corroborate DiLisio’s origi-nal story, did not waver in the deci-sion Friday. Dexter Douglass, Chiles’ general counsel, said he thought Friday’s ruling was a good one. DiLisio’s sworn affidavit, he said, “means no more than any of his other sworn statements. Let’s see what happens when he’s challenged by a prosecutor and other witnesses get a change to testify.” [end of column 5] Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spaziano case sent to Sanford for appeal Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Griffin, Michael Leusner, Jim Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Orlando, FL Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Spaziano, Joe Description An account of the resource Joseph Spaziano gets denied a stay of execution. The Florida Supreme Court decides that the new evidence regard the fact that a key witness in the 1976 murder trial lied must be heard by a Sanford court. The lower court was believed to be the place in which Spaziano may receive his stay. The testimony of Anthony Frank DiLisio was what put Spaziano on death row. DiLisio was to appear in the Sanford court and admit to lying. Key in the trial will be an affidavit filed by Michael Mello in which DiLisio swears he lied. The issue of DiLisio’s lying has led to various stories from DiLisio. DiLisio admitted to believing that the testimony, he made in 1976, was implanted in his head through hypnosis. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Orlando Sentinel capital punishment death penalty Joe Spaziano https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/0b4898971e38d855868e0048caf115c7.jpg 3ec919b1a5f4681a5864444afc6a942c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Moore, Kyle Text Any textual data included in the document [heading] Spaziano hearing set, but stay rejected  State/Regional News The Associated Press [start of the first column] Tallahassee- The Florida Supreme Court refused Friday to stay the execution of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano but ordered a lower court to hold a hearing within a week into his claims of innocence. In an unsigned opinion, the justices all agreed a trial judge should consider the recent recantation of a key prosecution witness who said he lied during Spaziano's trial nearly 20 years ago. But the state's high court split 4-3 in its refusal to delay the execution. Spaziano, 49 is schudled to die in Florida's electric chair on Sept. 21 for the murder-mutilation of an 18-year-old Orlando woman in August 1973. "We decline at this time to grant a stay of execution, but allow the trial court an opportunity to  [end of the first column] [start of the second column] address this issue,' the majority said in a ruling that came just 26 hours after oral arguments. Chief Justice Stephen Grimes and Justice Ben Overton, Major Harding, and Charles Wells supported the majority ruling. The other three justices said they agreed a lower court should review the recanted testimony but argued against setting a deadline for the hearing. In a minority opinion supported by Justices Leander Shaw and Harry Lee Anstead, Justice Gerald Kogan said he believed Spaziano should be given an indefinite stay of execution. Spaziano is condemned for the murder of Laura Lynn Harberts, whose body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump. The key witness at Spazino's trial was Anthony DiLisio, who recanted his testimony earlier this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano's fourth death warrant. However, after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by DiLisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month. Richard Martell, who oversees the state lawyers who defend death sentences, said he eas still studying the decision. Michael Mello, the Vermont law professor who represents Spaziano, did not respond to a request for reaction. [end of the article] Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spaziano hearing set, but stay rejected Subject The topic of the resource Capital Punishment Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Associated Press Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Palm Beach Post Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 09-09-1995 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Palm Beach, FL Description An account of the resource The Florida Supreme Court refused to stay the execution of Joseph Spaziano but ordered a lower court to hold a hearing into his claim of innocence. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 300 DPI 1 JPG https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/d0050e03fd91b3530287b15401e2e5aa.jpg 52677029bdafccec8fe5f73ef0356a2f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Page header] B-2 ** The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Saturday, September 9, 1995 [End Page Header] [Article Title] Court denies stay for Spaziano By Jackie Hallifax Associated Press [End Article Title] [Column One] TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court refused yesterday to stay the execution of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano but ordered a lower court to hold a hearing within a week into his claims of innocence. In an unsigned opinion, the justices agreed a trial judge should consider the recent recantation of a key prosecution witness who said he lied during Spaziano's trial nearly 20 years ago. But the state's high court split 4-3 in its refusal to delay the execution. [End Column One] [Column Two] Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to die in Flordia's electric chair Spet. 21 for the August 1973 murder-mutilation of Laura Lynn Harberts, 18, of Orlando. Herberts body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump. The key witness at Spaziano's trial was Anthony DiLisio, who recanted his testimony earlier this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano's fourth death warrant. However, after an investigation by the Flordia Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by DiLisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month. [End Column Two] [Column Three] Richard Martell, who oversees the state lawyers who defend death sentences, said he was still studying the decision. Micheal Mello, the Vermont law professor who represents Spaziano, did not respond to a request for reaction. Dexter Douglass, Chiles' general counsel, said a week should be sufficient for a lower court to hold a hearing. "There's plenty of time for this hearing," he said. "there's plenty of time for it to come back up to the Supreme Court." The trial court will decide if the recanted testimony is credible and substantial enough to probably change the verdict, according to the majority opinion. [End Column Three] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Shinkle, Timothy Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Court denies stay for Spaziano Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jackie Hallifax Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Times-Union Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-09 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource This article reviews the Flordia Supreme Court's 4-3 split when deciding to stay Joseph Spaziano's death sentence after a key witness recanted their statement from twenty years ago. Subject The topic of the resource Capital Punishment Spaziano, Joseph Chiles, Lawton Herberts, Laura DiLisio, Anthony Florida. Supreme Court Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Jacksonville, FL https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/7449439ff589fb11b700375b7bebfb7d.jpg 0107fe4aa6ab309c965d319317c5fd74 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/694a865edd391f2a2790ae2fc2b8ebc7.jpg b5bd0f118cea6cc6c245953db4fc787e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [first page] [Heading] Spaziano Case sent to Sanford for appeal [Subheading] The state Supreme Court said a lower court must decide whether he should get a stay. by Michael Griffin and Jim Leusner Of the Sentinel Staff [start of the first column] TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Supreme Court refused Friday to halt the execution of Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano, but ordered a Sanford court to hear new evidence that a key witness in the 1976 murder trial lied. In a split decision, the justices determined the state’s high court had no reason to consider the appeal and that Spaziano’s attorney was arguing his case in the wrong court. But they also agreed the issues raised could be compelling enough for a lower court to grant a stay. All the justices agreed the matter should be heard this Friday in Sanford. Three of the seven judges dissented in part, arguing that Spaziano, 49, should get an immediate stay. The ruling sets up a scramble by lawyers to prepare for a hearing just six days before Spaziano’s scheduled execution for the 1973 murder of Orlando hospital clerk Laura Lynn Harberts. Anthony Frank DiLisio, the witness who put Spaziano on death row with his testimony, likely will have to tell a judge and a prosecutor that he lied then and continued to lie for Please see Spaziano, A-11 [end of the first column] [end of page one] [start of page two] [heading] DiLisio now says he lied on purpose Spaziano from A-1 [start of the first column] 20 years. Art Harberts, Laura Harberts’s [sic] father, said he will attend the hearing and expressed dismay Friday that DiLisio “can’t or won’t get his story straight.” The last time he saw DiLisio was at the trial, when DiLisio, then 17, was the star witness. “Tony impressed ne as a good kid,” Harberts said. “He apologized to us, you know, Laura’s family, for not coming forward sooner and saving us all the anguish.” A key factor in Friday’s ruling appears to be an affidavit filed by attorney Michael ello in which DiLisio swears for the first he that he lied at the trial. “I never, under any circumstances, went to the dump sight [sic] with Joseph Spaziano,” the affidavit reads. “I went there in the company of law enforcement investigators.” It is the first statement DiLisio has made under oath since the trial, in which he told jurors that Spaziano bragged about raping and killing women, then showed him the bodies of Harberts and an unidentified woman at a dump near Altamonte Springs. It is the latest version of the story DiLisio has given since he first told The Miami Herald in June that his testimony was false. Shortly after that, DiLisio told Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents that he thought police drugged him during hypnosis and planted the memories. The interview was videotaped, but FDLE spokesman Liz Hirst said Friday that DiLisio was no under oath when he made the statements. [end of the first column] [start of the second column] Still later he told The Orlando Sentinel he remembered . . . the dump with Spaziano . . . thought those memories were planted in his mind through hypnosis. DiLisio also said Seminole County sheriff’s detective George Abbgy threatened to charge him with complicity in the cries if he did not implicate Spaziano. Then in a column in Friday’s Miami Herald, DiLisio was quoted as saying: “It came from me. No-body could program me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I wanted to do it. But it was false.” All those versions vary greatly from sworn statements DiLisio gave 20 years ago. On May 13, 1975, detectives taped DiLisio recalling how Spaziano bragged about mutilating women and offering to be hypnotized in the hopes it would help him remember. DiLisio was hypnotized May 15 and 16. During the second session he described going to the dump with Spaziano and seeing and smelling the bodies. Questioned by Spaziano’s lawyer and a prosecutor on Nov. 12, 1975, DiLisio said again that the biker he once idolized had taken him to the dump and displayed the bodies. During the January 1976 trial, DiLisio, again under oath, told jurors the same story, even after his life had been threatened by Spaziano’s friends in the Outlaws motorcycle gang. Former Seminole County Assistant State Attorney Claude Van Hook, who prosecuted Spaziano, said he thinks DiLisio told the truth during the trial but is now recanting out of fear. Van Hook said DiLisio withstood grueling cross-examination by Spaziano’s attorney, Ed Kirkland, and did not waver when faced with Outlaws members sitting in court. Kirkland called DiLisio a “great witness.” [end of the second column] [start of the third column] “This young man had the ring truth,” Van Hook said. “He was afraid of Spaziano’s associates and still had the intestinal fortitude to get on the stand and tell the truth. Who would believe he lied?” Mello, Spaziano’s attorney, could not be reached for comment Friday. He has refused to speak to The Orlando Sentinel. Gov. Lawton Chiles, who signed a fifth warrant for Spaziano after an FDLE investigation turned up witnesses to corroborate DiLisio’s original story, did not waver in that decision Friday. Dexter Douglass, Chiles general counsel, said he thought Friday’s ruling was a good one. He added that DiLisio’s sworn affidavit “means no more than any of his other sworn statements. Let’s see what happens when he’s challenged by a prosecutor and other witnesses get a chance to testify” [end of the third column] [end of article] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Article Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Stell, Nicole Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spaziano case sent to Sanford for appeal The state Supreme Court said a lower court must decide whether he should get a stay Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Spaziano, Joe. Description An account of the resource Describes how Anthony DiLisio, a prime witness in the Spaziano case, recanted his original statement and how the Florida Supreme Court plans to handle it. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Griffin, Michael Leusner, Jim Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Griffin, Michael and Jim Leusner "Spaziano Case sent to Sanford for Appeal", The Orlando Sentinel , September 9, 1995. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-10-09 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Orlando, FL Language A language of the resource English appeals capital punishment Joseph Spaziano Michael Mello https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/3b9de7a8663f966645224497cbab2b86.jpg f13cf575bca392ee33c12c35df8e37f3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [heading] State high court orders hearing for Spaziano [subheadin] In a 4-3 decision, Florida's Supreme Court denies a stay of execution for the inmate. The Associated Press [Start of first column] TALLAHASSEE-The Florida Supreme Court refused Friday to stay the execution of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano but ordered a lower court to hold a hearing within a week into his claims of innocence. In an unsigned opinion, the justices agreed a trial judge should consider the recent recantation of a key prosecution witness who said he lied during Spaziano's trial nearly 20 years ago. But the state's high court split 4-3 in its refusal to delay the execution. Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to die in Florida's electric chair Sept. 21 for the mutilation-murder of an 18-year old Orlando woman in August 1973. "We decline at this time to grant a stay of execution but allow the trial court an opportunity to address this issue," the majority said in a ruling that came just 26 hours after oral arguments. Chief Justice Stephen Grimes and Justices Ben Overton, Major Harding and Charles Wells supported the majority ruling. The other three justices said they agreed a lower court should review the recanted testimony but argued against setting a dead-line for the hearing. In a minority opinion supported by Justices Leander Shaw and See SPAZIANO on Page 2B [end of the first column] [Start of the second column] Section B SPAZIANO continued from page 1B Harry Lee Anstead, Justice Gerald Kogan said he believed Spaziano should be given an indefinite stay of execution. Spaziano is condemned for the murder of Laura Lynn Harberts, whose body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump. The key witness at Spaziano's trial was Anthony DiLisio, who recanted his testimony earlier this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano's fourth death warrant. However, after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by DiLisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month. Richard Martell, who oversee the state lawyers who de-fend death sentences, said he was still studying the decision. Michael Mello, the Vermont law professor who represents Spaziano, did not respond to a request for reaction. Dexter Douglass, Chiles' general counsel, said a week should be sufficient for a lower court to hold a hearing. "There's plenty of time for this hearing," he said. "There's plenty of time for it to come back up to the Supreme Court." The trial court will decide if he recanted testimony is credible and substantial enough to probably change the verdict, according to the majority opinion. Kogan wrote for the minority that the majority was setting an unrealistic time frame to weigh the importance of DiLisio's recanted testimony. "Such a restrictionn is without precedent in our case law and tends to create an atmosphere of panic for resolution of an issue that requires calm and deliberate resolution," Kogan wrote. [end of the second column] [start of the third column] [Quote] Joseph Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to die in Florida's electric chair Sept. 21 for the mutiliation-murder of an 18-year-old Orlando woman in August 1973. [end Quote] "Indeed, this is an issue demanding the most careful of attention because its end result could be the state-sponsored taking of a man's life when his guilt has now been called into question." Kogan pointed out that a death sentence warrants ex-traordinary safeguards because of its finality. "I cannot see how this core policy is being served by an unseemly rush to execute a man despite a sworn affidavit by the state's chief witness that Mr. Spaziano was convicted on falsified evidence," Kogan wrote. DiLisio's recantation is just the latest troubling aspect of the Spaziano case, according to Kohan, who cited the use of hypnotically-enhanced testimony, something now banned, and the jury's recommendation for life. He called Spaziano's conviction a "textbook example how capital trials and postconviction reviews should not be conducted." Kogan said he believed the high court should grant an indefinite stay "if the governor does not stay or withdraw his warrant in light of our opinion today." Douglass said Chiles didn't plan on lifting the warrant, which is effective until noon Sept. 26. "He was satisfied that his duties required him to sign this death warrant," Douglass said. [end of article] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Whitehurst, Ben Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource State high court orders hearing for Spaziano Subject The topic of the resource Capital Punishment Spaziano, Joe Florida Supreme Court Description An account of the resource The Florida Supreme Court refuses to stay the execution of Joseph Spaziano, but orders a lower court to hold hearing. In a 4-3 split, the minority opinion believed that Spaziano deserved an indefinite stay of execution. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Gainesville Sun Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Gainesville Sun Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-09 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 300 DPI 1 JPG Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, FL Capital punishment. Dexter Douglass Florida Supreme Court hearing Joseph Spaziano Justice Gerald Kogan https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b0d61b976116f4f096ea1bcb0d1bc3ac.jpg 4057d8de327a0dace9423cdd34bd2f8a https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/46ac0fe87f3cbe04311a7ed948745ebf.jpg f2c36f6c9d91c4aaa390f3283218d903 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper article Text Any textual data included in the document [Heading] Spaziano lawyer: Hearing a ‘sham’ By John D. McKinnon Herald Legal Correspondent [subheading] Indefinite stay of execution demanded [Beginning of article] Tallahassee-Hours after scoring a victory in his legal fight to avoid the electric chair, “Crazy Joe” Spaziano on Saturday faced the possibility that his gains could be erased - by his own lawyer. Late Friday afternoon, the Florida Supreme Court granted Spaziano an evidentiary hearing on his claim that the state’s key witness lied at his murder trial 20 years ago. But just before midnight Friday, Spaziano’s outspoken defense attorney, Michael Mello, faxed a harshly worded response to the high court, demanding an indefinite stay of Spaziano’s scheduled execution and announcing that he would not participate in the evidentiary hearing, which he termed a “sham.” Mello complained that he won’t have the time or resources to prepare for the hearing, ordered to be held by Friday. Spaziano is scheduled to be executed Sept. 21. “If this court intends to kill this innocent man by depriving him of the effective assistance of counsel, then it will do so without my complicity,” Mello wrote. Mello is a law professor who lives in Vermont. He said in a telephone interview late Friday that it is “obviously impossible for me to be able to do any kind of meaningful hearing with an active death warrant pending.” Mello’s threatened boycott of next week’s hearing doesn’t necessarily leave Spaziano unrepresented. In its opinion, the Supreme Court also ordered the state law office that defends most Death Row inmates to help Mello. But there’s no guarantee that state lawyers will participate. Mello is doing everything he can to keep the state office, known as the Capital Collateral Representative, out of the case. Mello says CCR allowed an investigator to try to pressure the state’s key witness against Spaziano and that the agency is overworked and has failed to follow up on leads in the past. Mello, who once worked for CCR, does little to disguise his contempt for it. CCR lawyers have also expressed doubts about the feasibility of preparing adequately for the evidentiary hearing in less than a week. “Trying to put together this hearing in seven days is just not the way things should be done,” Martin J. McClain, CCR’s chief assistant, said Saturday. But McClain did not threaten to boycott the hearing. He declined to comment on Mello’s allegations about CCR misconduct. The Supreme Court implicitly rejected [end of page] [Top of page] Sunday, September 10, 1995, The Herald 7B [Article title] Spaziano lawyers: Hearing a ‘sham’ [Spaziano, from 6B] those allegations in Friday’s opinion. The big fear about the hearing for both Mello and McClain: that prosecutors will use controversial secret evidence during the hearing to rebut their claims on behalf of Spaziano. [subheading] Unveiling secret evidence [beginning of article text] The existence of the secret evidence came to light in August, when Gov. Lawton Chiles cited it to justify signing a fifth warrant for Spaziano’s execution. Chiles ordered the secret investigation after the state’s key witness, Anthony DiLisio, told a Herald reporter that his testimony at the trial was false. DiLisio testified at the trial in 1975 that Spaziano, an Outlaw biker gang leader, took him to a rural Orlando trash dump and showed him the body of a murdered 18-year-old woman, Laura Harberts. But the governor has steadfastly refused to make the report public, citing promises of anonymity made to the witness, as well as state laws that allow him to keep clemency matters secret. [subheading] Fear of an ambush [beginning of article text] Spaziano’s lawyers worry that they’ll be ambushed at the hearing by the secret evidence. It’s likely that Spaziano’s lawyers will go to court again to seek the report before next week’s hearing. Their fears appeared to be justified late Friday, when the governor’s chief lawyer said it’s possible that some of the witnesses who were interviewed for the secret report will testify at next week’s hearing. “That will be up to the state attorney’s office” in Seminole County, said Dexter Douglass, Chiles’ general counsel. How could local prosecutors find the witness if the governor promised them anonymity, as Chiles has said? “What we promised is what I think I’ve said all along - that we would not reveal their identity to the general public,” Douglass said. [subheading] Discrediting the key witness [beginning of article text] When asked again if the state would reveal the names of the witness to prosecutors, Douglass added that local prosecutors “could find the witnesses the same way we did.” The secret witnesses include several people who recall hearing DiLisio or Spaziano make statements that implicated Spaziano. Those witnesses probably couldn’t be used to convict Spaziano, because their testimony would be hearsay. But they could be used to discredit DiLisio’s recantation of his trial testimony and block Spaziano’s efforts to obtain a new trial. The state’s Supreme Court’s order for a hurry-up hearing on Spaziano’s claims runs counter to its recent decisions in other capital cases in which last-minute claims were raised. In several recent cases, the high court has ordered stays of execution so trial courts could hold full-blown evidentiary hearings. The difference in this case, apparently, was Mello’s failure to file his request in a trial court - the usual route for last-ditch claims. Instead, for reasons that remain unclear, Mello file directly in the state Supreme Court, a move that the high court determined “clearly not authorized.” [Photo caption] ‘If this court intends to kill this innocent man by depriving him of the effective assistance of counsel, then it will do so without my complicity.’ Michael Mello, Spaziano’s lawyer [End of article] Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Wright, Devin Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spaziano lawyer: Hearing a 'sham' Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment. Description An account of the resource This newspaper article from "The Herald," in Tallahassee, FL describes Michael Mello's fight for a stay of execution for his client, "Crazy Joe" Spaziano. His fight was being challenged by the state's "secret evidence" that was to prove his guilt, after the key witness admitted to false testimony in the original trial 20 years before. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McKinnon, John D. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-10 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, FL capital punishment Crazy Joe Spaziano Michael Mello trial https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/39e18287e3a59ef2b1ada0396ca76b65.jpg fba87ef31a2f45c77c4415522b0667c9 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/9c85efd4bd2db4e833388e0ba800d8a6.jpg 8c41f8bf4721933e0f44727b0fefc955 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Heading] Spaziano's Lawyer Files New Requests But he said he won't attend Friday's hearing because he needs more time to prepare. By Rene Stutzman [Start of the first column] The attorney for condemned murder Joseph Spaziano on Sunday filed new requests for a stay of execution with the Florida Supreme Court, saying he needs more time and money to prepare for a hearing Friday in Sanford. And attorney Michael Mell of White River Junction, Vt., said stay or no stay, he would not attend Friday's hearing. The requests from Mello came just two days after the same court refused to grant the same requests. Instead, it ordered Spa- [end of the first column] [Start of the second column] ziano's defense to present new evidence of his innocence to a circuit judge in Sanford. The prosection's key witness in the case, Anthony Frank DiLisio, in June told investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that he lied to jurors at Spaziano's trial 19 years ago. At the trail, DiLisio testified that Spaziano took him to an Altamonte Springs dump and pointed out the body of Laura Lynn Harberts, who was slain in 1973, and another victim.  Spaziano is schduled to die Sept. 21 for murdering Harberts. Please see Spaziano, C-4 [End of the second column] [End of the first page] [start of the second page] [header] Attorney refuses help from defenders group [subheading] Mello said he could find no attorney willing to take over the case. Spaziano from C-1 [Start of the third column] His case gained notoriety this spring as Spaziano's earlier execution date approached. Mello writes several Florida newspapers, challenging the conviction and saying that DiLisiio had begun to waffle on his account. Gov. Lawton Chiles order the FDLE to investigate, but after its conclusion, Chiles signed Spaziano's fifth death warrant. Mello in Sunday ripped the Florida Supreme Court's Friday ruling. In a pair of motions filed with the court by fax, Mello wrote that he planned to appeal its decision to the US Supreme Court but needed a stay to give him time to complete the paperwork.  In a second motion, he argued the defense needs more time to prepare for Friday's hearing. "WHat the Florida Supreme Court did on Friday was not a victory," Mello said by phone from his home in Vermont. "What they have given us is the illusion of due process...while making it totally impossible for me to participate." Mello said Florida denied his request dor money, and he does not have the dinds to investigate or even travel to Florida for the hearing. He said he simply would not [end of the third column] [Start of the fourth column] make the trip.  "It's better that he not have an attorney at the hearing than he have the illusion of representation at that hearing," Mello said. Mello said he attempted but found no attorney willing to take over the case. However, in its ruling Friday, the state Supreme Court said the state's death-row equivalent of a public defender's office, Capital Collateral Representative, is capable and competent to represent Spaziano. It wrote that Mello should use its resource if he does not have his own. Mello said he would not let CCR take back the case, aaccusing it of botching an appeal earlier this year. Matin McClain, CCR's chief assistant said his agency thinks Spaziano is innocent and is prepared to take back the case, but Mello "has all the files, and he won't give them to us... I'm very distressed by the situation that Mr. Spaziano finds himself in. He's innocent man on death row, and we're supposed to be helping him, and we don't know what's going on." [Image and Caption] Joseph Spaziano talks about execution, scheduled for Sept. 21, during an interview last week at Florida State Prison in Starke. [end article] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spaziano's lawyer files new requests Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stutzman, Rene Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Orlando Sentinel Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-08-11 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Description An account of the resource Michael Mello files a new request in Joseph Spaziano's case. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/17c48e56a324068391151f0c889be03c.jpg 922bb9a29050657cbf1478dc99557551 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Heading] The Gainesville Sun, Tuesday, September 12, 1995 Lawyer for Death Row inmate seeks more time to make case The Associated Press [Start of the first column] Tallahassee – The lawyer for Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano wants more time than a week to show why this client is innocent of the murder that has him scheduled for execution in two weeks. Michael Mello, a Vermont law professor representing the former Outlaws motorcycle gang member, said he filed a motion in a Central Florida trial court Monday asking for more time. Mello filed similar motions over the weekend to the state Supreme Court and plans to turn to the U.S. Supreme Court later this week. But whether or not the courts give him an extension, Mello said he will not attend a hearing set for Friday because of the rush. Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to die in Florida’s electric chair 7 a.m. Sept. 21 for the mutilation-murder of an 18-year-old Orlando woman in August 1973. Retired Circuit Judge Robert McGregor, the judge who sentenced Spaziano nearly 20 years, scheduled a hearing for 9 a.m. Friday in Sanford into Spaziano’s claims he was wrongly convicted because the key prosecution witness lied. [end of first column] [start of the second column] Late last week, the state Supreme Court ordered the lower court to hold the hearing by Friday. At the same time, the high court refused to postpone the scheduled execution. At the heart of Spaziano’s appeal is Anthony DiLisio, who told jurors in Spaziano’s trial that Spaziano had taken him to an Altamonte Springs dump where the body of Laura Lynn Harberts was found. Earlier this summer, DiLisio, who now lives in Pensacola, recanted his testimony, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to call off an execution scheduled for June and to order the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate. Last month, Chiles said the results of the FDLE investigation settled any doubts, and he signed a fifth death warrant. Mello said if Friday’s hearing is not delayed and does not result in a stay of execution, he will file one final request for clemency to Chiles before the execution. Also Monday, the state office charged under the law with representing indigent death row inmates filed a motion to the state Supreme Court asking for a stay for Spaziano and clarification of its role. Mello said Spaziano has refused to allow the office to be involved, but the high court said Friday the state office was required to provide Mellow with assistance. [end] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Hunnel, Debi Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lawyer for death row inmate seeks more time to make case Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Clemency Description An account of the resource Mello files for stay of execution for Joseph Spaziano. Prosecution witness recants testimony. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Associated Press Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Gainesville Sun. "Lawyer for death row inmate seeks more time to make case." Gainesville Sun, September 12, 1995 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-12 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Gainesville, FL Clemency stay of execution https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/e5a85b542dff75fd371c38d315921dae.jpg eb8b09416a253624fced421fb4e3a982 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [heading] Spaziano may lack lawyer for hearing By MARK SILVA Capital Bureau Chief [start of the first column] Tallahassee – With the prospect of no law-yer appearing for Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano at a last-chance hearing before his slated execution next week, an odd alliance of lawyers is pleading for a delay. Spaziano’s own lawyer, Michael Mellow, argues that he “cannot possibly render effective assistance” in the short time leading up to Friday’s hearing. The state’s public defenders for Death Row say they too are ill-prepared and that, in any event, they can’t step in so long as Spaziano has a lawyer. Although Mellow doesn’t want the state’s lawyers involved, the state’s Capital Collateral Representa-tive joined Mellow on Monday in asking the Florida Supreme Court to delay Spaziano’s execution. A hearing without adequate defense “could result in the most dire consequences, the execution of an innocent man who has only just discovered the evidence which will prove his innocence,” the CCR argued on Monday. A the same time, the possibility of no lawyer for Spaziano at Friday’s hearing “creates a huge problem,” says Martin McClain, the CCR’s chief assis-tant, “one that the Supreme Court has to address.” [end of the first column] [start of second column] The Supreme Court has ordered a hearing in the Seminole County court where Spaziano was con-victed in 1976 for the murder of Laura Lynn Har-berts. But, by 4-3, the court has refused to postpone the execution scheduled for Sept. 21. The hearing is solely to weigh a new develop-ment: Tony DiLisio, the key witness who tied Spa-ziano to the bodies of Harberts and another woman found at a wooded dump near Orlando, says Spaziano never showed him the bodies. It was the police, DiLisio now says, who led him there and coerced his testimony. Recantation alone isn’t enough to grant Spa-ziano a new trial. Prosecutors are likely to present evidence that DiLisio was telling the truth origi-nally, and lying today – the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s position. But if the judge finds DiLisio’s story plausible, he could order a new trial. Retired Seminole Circuit Judge Robert McGre-gor, who presided over the original trial, is returning to handle Friday’s hearing in Sanford. [end of the article] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. McCrumb, Allison Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Spaziano may lack lawyer for hearing Description An account of the resource Spaziano's lawyer, Michael Mellow, is worried that he will not be prepared to make a convincing argument on behalf of his client because new evidence has come to light. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Silva, Mark Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Silva, Mark. 1995. “Spaziano May Lack Lawyer for Hearing.” Florida The Herald, September 12, 1995. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995 - 09 - 12 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, Florida https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/8154b8cb1cc3d8aee0c2809d0b0ffd88.jpg 2d796725c4c18e27d8d5bf734b5f8ca0 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b7ed72a36546f9a0250a12f14350179f.jpg 9457806e511c2fe63bb4f4a2fa155296 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Page one] [Heading] Around Florida Lawyer backs out of condemned man’s hearing [Subheading, page one] The move leaves Joseph Spaziano unrepresented only nine days before his scheduled execution. [Caption on left picture] Joseph Spaziano’s scheduled execution for the 1973 murder of an Orlando hospital clerk is only nine days away. [Column one] By Diane Rado Times Staff Writer [Beginning of column one] TALLAHASSEE- With death in the electric chair nine days away, Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano is caught in a bizarre fight over who will represent him. He may have no attorney at all for a crucial hearing on his case at the end of the week. Michael Mello, the Vermont law professor who has represented Spaziano this summer, refuses to attend the hearing, calling it “a sham.” He says he’ll file a Bar complaint against state lawyers if they try to intervene in the case. On Monday, Spaziano turned away the lawyers who tried to visit him from the office of Capital Collateral Representative, [End of column one] [Beginning of column two] the state agency that defend death row inmates. “He refused to meet with them,” said Mello. “Then they called him on the phone and tried to cajole him into letting him meet with them and into letting them represent him. He said go away.” Michael Minerva, the head of CCR, said he wouldn’t comment Monday on any “attorney-client communications.” The attorney general’s office, representing the state’s interest in a death warrant against Spaziano, described the situation at typical as the clock ticks toward execution. “This is just the predictable stall,” said Deputy Attorney General Pete Antonacci. “We see it before every execution.” In the past, the Florida Supreme Court has halted an execution when a death row inmate was left without an attorney to adequately represent him. But both Mello and CCR said they are not trying to create that situation. “If they (state prosecutors) believe that, they’re stupid,” said Mello. [End of column two] [Beginning of column three] In an affidavit filed Monday with the Supreme Court, Minerva wrote: “I must also address the distasteful suspicion that I or others at CCR in any way conspired with Mr. Mello or anyone else to precipitate a crisis in counsel for Mr. Spaziano in these proceedings. We did not.” Court documents filed over the weekend indicate friction between CCR and Mello, who previously worked for CCR and represented Spaziano before moving from Florida in 1987: Mello refuses to give CCR any of these boxes of files on the Spaziano case; Mello even filed a letter with the Supreme Court from Spaziano’s mother, Rose. “My children and I are united in wanting you to represent my son Joe in his attorney,” she wrote. “We do not want the CCR to represent him.” CCR acknowledges that it turned down an earlier request from Mello to help on the Spaziano case. “I was reasonably sure we would not agree on how to represent Mr. Spaziano,” Minerva wrote. “Mr. Mello was [End of column three] [End of page one] [Beginning of page two] [Beginning of column four] suspicious and distrustful of CCR. We would not be able to cooperate in a way that co-counsel should and I feel that our disagreeing would not be in Mr. Spaziano’s best interest.’ Mello said in an interview Monday that he doesn’t feel CCR has adequately investigated Spaziano’s claims of innocence in the past and continues to have a conflict of interest in the case. He says CCR investigators tried to threaten and intimidate Anthony DiLisio, the witness who has recanted key testimony against Spaziano. CCR has denied allegations. Both sides agree on one thing; Neither has time to adequately prepare for a hearing on the recanted testimony that is to be held Friday in Seminole County, where Spaziano was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1973 murder of Orlando hospital clerk Laura Lynn Harberts. Both CCR and Mello have asked the Supreme Court to stay Spaziano’s execution. [End of column four] [Caption on right picture] Michael Mello, Joseph Spaziano’s attorney, has said he won’t attend a crucial hearing on the case at the end of the week. [End of page two] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Andrewlevich, Erin Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lawyer backs out of condemned man's hearing Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe. Capital punishment. Description An account of the resource Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano is left without representation in the upcoming trial against him. In his appeal to a death sentence, his lawyer, Michael Mello, stepped down in protest of this trial, arguing that is it a sham. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rado, Diane Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-12 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, FL Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Capital punishment. Joseph Spaziano Michael Mello https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/2ec0d8d66ae9c84dd0e5b8f4baaf6009.jpg 6881f289078ddc30345de42ed45cb6df https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/96c3c5d8eafa567f2d08e6aa65d1f7c1.jpg 4f12b7d0179c7df0e2a0b378bd7f82f2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [First Page] [heading] 'Crazy Joe' is granted a reprieve Death Row inmate to get new hearing By Lori Rozsa Herald Staff Writer [Start of the first column] The Florida Supreme Court issued an indefinite stay for condemned biker "Crazy Joe" Spaziano Tuesday --- nine days before his scheduled execution. Spaziano, who turned 50 on Tuesday, was visiting with his mother and sister on Death row when the news came in. He had already shaved his head in preparation for his death date with the electric chair a week from Thursday. "His overriding emotion was relief," said his attorney, Mike Mello, a volatile Vermont law professor. "But I think it's more the absence of terror and fear than the presence of anything like joy." The Supreme Court justices set a Nov. 15 deadline for a hearing on new evidence in the 20-year-old murder case. Tony DiLisio, the state's star witness in the 1976 murder trial, recanted his testimony this summer, saying he lied when he testified Crazy Joe showed him the body of Laura Lynn Harberts at an Altamonte Springs dump in 1973. Harberts was a a hospital records clerk. DiLisio, then 16, was the only witness to link Spaziano to the crime. The justices also kicked Mello off the case, citing his "flagrant disregard of this Court's procedures and directions." The court ordered the state office that represents indigent Death Row inmates, called Capital Collateral Representative, to represent Spaziano --- adding that volunteer help from a pri- [end of the first column] [Start of the second column] [Image with caption] DEATH ROW: Joseph Spaziano was to be executed Sept 21. [End Image Caption] vate law firm would also be welcome. A dispute between Mello and the CCR, as it's known, is at the heart of Tuesday's stay of execution. The decision comes four days after the justices refused to issue a stay, and ordered the evidentiary hearing to take place Friday. Last week the court ordered Mello to work with the CCR, which has represented Spaziano in the past. But Mello refused. After a flurry of motions where both criticized each other, the justices said it was obvious Spaziano [End page one] [Beginning of page two] [Heading] 'Crazy Joe' Spaziano wins indefinite stay of execution Top state court agrees to hear new evidence Spaziano, from 1A [start of the third column] needed more than a few days to sort out who is representing him. "We envisioned a spirit of cooperation between CCR and Mello that would guarantee the best representation for Spaziano," the justices said in Tuesday's opinion. "Unfortunately, the events of this past weekend make it clear that such cooperation does not exist." Catching up Marty McClain chief assistant at CCR, said his office has a lot of work to do on the case. They represented Spaziano until June. He said their first priority is to get a copy of a secret report on DiLisio that was prepared by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at the request of Gov. Lawton Chiles. CCR investigators were questioned by the FDLE, and they told the agency about their unsuccessful attempts to get a statement from DiLisio. It is because of that cooperation with the FDLE that Mello said the CCR should not be permitted to represent Spaziano. Chiles stayed Spaziano's last execution date after DiLisio told The Herald that what he said in the murder trial and in a rape trial wasn't true. But after reading the FDLE report, Chiles issued another [end of the third column] [start of the fourth column] [Above image by Associated Press. Caption] KICKED OFF CASE: Mike Mello, a Vermont law professor. death warrant, saying he was convinced DiLisio is lying now, and was telling the truth at the trials. Chiles has refused to release that report, citing the need to protect witnesses who were guaranteed anonymity by the FDLE. "Obviously, this report contains statements of witnesses with material information," McClain said. "We need to know what that is. If the the information indicates Mr. Spaziano is innocent, we're entitled to that. If it's adverse to Mr. Spaziano, we need to know if that person is to be believed." Chiles blasts lawyer Just as the Supreme Court was issuing its decision Tuesdays afternoon, Chiles was holding a [end of the fourth column] [start of the fifth column] [Quote text box above from Mello] 'His overriding emotion was relief. But I think it's more the absence of terror and fear than the presence of anything like joy.' Mike Mello, Joseph Spaziano's attorney. [end quote box]. press conference across the street. He strongly criticized Mello. "I don't think he's serving his client," Chiles said. "I don;t think he's serving justice in general with what he's doing." But Mello said he accomplished what he set out to do---earn a stay and more time to investigate the new twists in the case. And he said he will not leave the case, though he acknowledges he needs help. "My top priority right now is to get a major Florida law firm willing to sign on as a pro bono counsel," Mello said. "We need to get that secret FDLE report. And we need to track down every piece of paper in all of the cases they've tried to pin on Joe." Ron Sachs, spokesman for Chiles, said the Supreme Court's stay doesn't change the governor's mind about Spaziano's guilt. "He remains convinced, waveringly so, about this case," Sachs said. Herald Staff Writer Mark Silva Contributed to this report. [end of article] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Hampton, Samantha Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'Crazy Joe' is granted a reprieve Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Death row--United States Chiles, Lawton, 1930-1998 Description An account of the resource Joe Spaziano is granted a new hearing on his murder trial. Nine days before his execution date, the Florida Supreme Court has decided to hold Spaziano indefinitely to allow new evidence to be shown. Mello is kicked off the Spaziano case due Mello having issues following the court procedures and directions. The only witness to the murder trial, Tony DiLisio, has retracted his testimony linking Spaziano to the murder. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rozsa, Lori Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rozsa, Lori. The Miami Herald Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-13 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Miami, FL Lawton Chiles https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/956648f30f61603a0433c7940b4277c8.jpg e5b443e0c79f3e44b3c6ae326f3fc767 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Header] Less 'panic for Spaziano [subheader] DEATH CLOCK ON HOLD Without the pressure of an impending execution, courts may find the truth. [Start of the first column] The Florida Supreme Court yesterday found itself all but forced into a decision that it should have made willingly last week. When the court on Friday ordered a hearing into new evidence in the murder case against Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano, it allowed less than two weeks for all questions to be answered. After that, according to a death warrant that the court refused to stay, Spaziano was to be executed. The key witness in the case, Anthony DiLisio, recently said that he lied 20 years ago when he furnished the testimony that put Spaziano on Death Row. The justices properly told a lower court to examine Mr. DiLisio’s altered story and determine whether it is genuine. But by not staying the death warrant, the court in effect imposed an unrealistic and dangerous deadline. As Justice Gerald Kogan wrote in a dissenting opinion, it created an “atmosphere of panic … for an issue that requires calm and deliberate resolution.” The panic evidently sent some of Spaziano’s lawyers off the deep end. His principal attorney, Michael Mello – who had no clerical or investigative help and was showing signs of emotional exhaustion – fell to feuding with the state agency that normally represents Death Row appeals. The result was an exchange of lawyerly insults that would have been comical – if someone’s life weren’t at stake. To this the justices rightly said: Enough. They ordered Mr. Mello off the case, stayed the death warrant indefinitely, and set a new deadline of Nov. 15 for the evidentiary hearing. Now the inquiry can proceed at a pace that befits both the complexity of the case and the gravity of the death penalty. Spaziano was convicted in 1976, when he was 30, of murdering 19-year-old Laura Lynn Harberts. The case rested [start of the second column] almost entirely on Mr. DiLisio’s lurid tale of seeing mutilated bodies and hearing Spaziano boast of the crime. The testimony was dubious from the start, and now the witness has recanted it. Even Nov. 15 may prove an impractical deadline. But at least there is no death warrant rushing the proceedings. That’s how it should have been all along. The justices’ clear desire to know the truth of this matter – which is commendable – was nearly undermined by an undue haste in pursuing it. To Spaziano, whose life-or-death case nearly got lost in the legal pandemonium, the stay of execution came at a propitious moment. He turned 50 yesterday – two decades older than the day he came to Death Row, and now one step closer to justice. [End of the article] Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Plunkett, Courtlyn Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Less 'panic' for Spaziano Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Hampton, Jim. "Less 'panic' for Spaziano." The Miami Herald, September 13, 1995. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Miami, FL Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-13 Description An account of the resource With Spaziano's execution on hold it could give the court time reinvestigate. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Miami Herald https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ea3f48666ec79722cc877db750317745.jpg e6aeec26a02596e95ace594b837242b9 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/270584e4ed41f90b64e75e948f00e61b.jpg 23ebb5e7bd1225852df5ac8f1f83cdae Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Thomas, Sean Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Text Any textual data included in the document [First Page] [Heading] Legal gamble wins Spaziano stay [Subheading] The Supreme Court orders a hearing on new evidence after a Death Row inmate's attorney refuses to show. By Larry Kaplow Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau [Start of the first column] TALLAHASSEE- The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday halted next week’s scheduled execution of 20-year Death Row inmate Joseph Spaziano for a reason that characterizes the troubling case: His attorney refused to go ahead with a last-chance hearing. The decision to indefinitely postpone the execution and order a hearing about new evidence was the latest in a case centering on testimony that was given by a troubled teenager under hypnosis --- no longer allowed in courts. The teenager, now an adult, recanted the trial testimony this summer after Gov. Lawton Chiles signed Spaziano’s fourth death warrant. The case has been marked by brinkmanship, [start of the second column] secrets, leaks, and sudden reversals since. Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan called it “grossly disturbing.” [photo] Spaziano The ruling Tuesday nullifies what was Spaziano’s fifth death warrant --- the most of any living Death Row inmate. And it did so on the 50th birthday of the Outlaws motorcycle gang leader known as Crazy Joe. Spaziano, also serving a sentence for rape, was convicted of the 1973 murder of hospital records clerk Laura Lynn Harberts, 18. Her mutilated body was found in a trash dump in Seminole County. Harberts’ father said Tuesday that his family has had to cope with the case for many years. “I hope justice is served,” said Art Harberts, 67. Please see SPAZIANO/4A [end of the first page] [start of the second page] [Heading] Professor says attorney played 'a game of chicken’ for client SPAZIANO From 1A [start of the third column] “There is a lot of suffering and anguish for other people.” The key witness in the trial was teenager and Outlaw groupie Anthony DiLisio. DiLisio testified that Spaziano had bragged about killing women and took him to see Harberts’ body. But the testimony was induced by hypnosis because DiLisio could not provide police with the details they sought to make their case. After several appeals and three vacated death warrants, Chiles ordered Spaziano’s execution in June. He withdrew the order after The Miami Herald quoted DiLisio as saying that he made up the testimony at the urging of police. Chiles ordered Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators to review the new information. He kept their findings secret but said he had no doubts of Spaziano’s guilt and signed a fifth death warrant last month. [Image] Mello Meanwhile, maverick volunteer attorney Michael Mello has tried to save Spaziano through rhetorical pleas and high-stakes court maneuvers. He’s drawn open rebukes from Chiles’ office and thinly veiled criticisms from the Florida Supreme Court. When the court refused to stay Spaziano’s Sept. 21 execution last week, it ordered that a fast-track hearing on DiLisio’s recanted testimony be held in Seminole County by Friday. Mello, a professor at a small law school in Vermont and a former assistant public defender in West Palm Beach, said he refused to attend Friday’s hearing because he didn’t have enough time or money to prepare. In its ruling Tuesday, the court declared that Mello had acted with “flagrant disregard” for court procedures and had, therefore “effectively withdrawn” from the case. It ordered him to turn over his files to the state agency that usually defends Death Row inmates and ordered the hearing on DiLisio’s recantation by Nov. 15. Mello said he was “extremely relieved Joe will not be executed on schedule” but insists he has not left the case. He said he will try to find a law firm to [start of the fourth column] provide him the backing to continue. He gave Spaziano the news by phone Tuesday. “He’s been through this drill so many times,” Mello said, noting Spaziano had shaved his head in preparation for the electrocution. The opinion takes Chiles’ office out of the process until the lower courts meet over the issue of the recanted testimony. After the opinion was released, Chiles general counsel Dexter Douglass said his office had been ready for the Spaziano case to end. “This matter’s got to come to a closure,” Douglass said. “The fact that he stayed it off 22 years is no reason not to enforce the death penalty.” Chiles’ office was critical of Mello last week over a profanity-laced memo in which he outlined his case strategy. Chiles, before the opinion Tuesday, said Mello’s latest tactics were not “serving justice.” Michael Radelet, a University of Florida professor who worked with Mello and wrote a book documenting executions of innocent people, said Mello knows he could be sanctioned for his actions but he “played a game of chicken” for his client. Radelet noted that Chiles and his predecessor, Bobb Martinez, are the first governors this century not to have granted clemency to anybody on Death Row. Now, prosecutors and lawyers for the office of Attorney General Bob Butterworth will continue gathering evidence for the Seminole County hearing, said Richard Martell, chief of capital appeals. He said that they are not privy to what Chiles gathered in his brief investigation. One part of the investigation includes a video-taped interview with FDLE agents sent by Chiles in which DiLisio insists he had never seen the dump site until police took him there years after the crime and in preparation for the trial. “I can remember at times I didn’t know what to say, and they told me what to say.... They’d pat me on the back.” he said.. The Orlando Sentinel reported that Chiles reviewed a statement taken by FDLE from someone who DiLisio told him about the trip to see the body before he had talked to police and others who said Spaziano bragged to them about the murder. Under Clemency laws, Chiles is allowed to keep the information secret, and Douglass said he will continue to do so. He has said witnesses fear retribution by Outlaws members. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Legal gamble wins Spaziano stay Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 dpi Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource Mike Mello Joseph Spaziano's lawyer makes an attempt to get a stay of execution for Spaziano. Mello did this by not attending the "Last-Chance hearing" to defend Spaziano, leaving him without representation, and forcing the postponing of his execution. This was done after the testimony of a key witness came into question. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kaplow, Larry Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-13 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Palm Beach, FL Subject The topic of the resource Capital Punishment Stay of Execution capital punishment stay of execution https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ccff6589f32697e08f158eb02fd330ac.jpg 995b72520bb0aeb0f0546fc0d5fc8436 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/3981b912e66909a5af0d7f13a04b2d0b.jpg 8eb559f1677078cbf4e919053d6f8514 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Start of the first page] [Heading] Justices Grant Stay to Spaziano [subheading] The execution of the convicted killer is halted, in part because of a fight over who should represent him. By Diane Rado Times Staff Writer [start of the first column] TALLAHASSEE- The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday halted Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano's execution, making him only the second death row inmate in history to survive a fifth death warrant. The indefinite stay was a gift of life for Spaziano, who celebrated his 50th birthday Tuesday. It was another setback for Art Harberts, who has waited some 20 years to see the man convicted of killing his daughter put to death. But Harberts hasn't lost hope. [Image of Spaziano] "I think maybe people don't have much faith in the justice system," he said. "I know it grinds slowly, but I'm quite sure that, eventually, justice will be served." Spaziano was headed to Florida's electric chair Sept. 21 for the 1973 rape and murder of Laura Lynn Harberts, an 18-year-old Orlando hospital clerk. Her mutilated body was found partly covered with leaves and trash in a dump in Seminole County. Instead, Spaziano will get a chance to Please see Spaziano 4B [end of the first page] [Start of the second page] Spaziano from 1B prove his innocence. The Supreme Court issued a stay pending the outcome of a hearing in Seminole County to be held by Nov. 15. The hearing will focus on a stunning recantation from Anthony DiLisio the state's star witness, some 20 years ago who tied Soaziano to the crime scene. DiLisio told the newspaper reporters and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement this summer that it was police-not Spaziano-who took him to the dump where Harberts' body was found and that the police manipulated, hypnotized and possibly drugged him to get testimony against Spaziano.  Controversy has been growing ever since, but it was a bizarre, last-minute fight over who will represent Spaziano that led to the stay. Michael Mello, Spaziano's attorney this summer, refused to attend a crucial hearing on the case originally scheduled for this Friday and refused to hand over hos files to the office of Capital Collateral Representative, the agency that defends death row inmates who don't have counsel. When CCR tried to visit Spaziano on Monday, he turned them away. Mello told CCR not to interfere in the case. [image] [Caption] Michael Mello refused to attend a hearing that had been set for Friday.  The Supreme Court wasn't pleased. Justices had said in an opinion just last week that CCR has the primary responsibility for the Spaziano case. "The fair administration of justices in Florida cannot proceed with such flagrant disregard of this court's procedures and directions," Tuesday's opinion states. In view of Mello's refusal to attend the hearing, among other factors, "we find that he has effectively withdrawn from representing Spaziano," the court wrote. Becuase Mello also has said he is not a trial attorney and doesn't have the resources to prepare for a new hearing, "We find that he is not competent to continue this representation." Justices ordered Mello to immediatelty deliver his files to CCR. "We direct that CCR shall act as Spaziano's counsel without Mell's assistance or interference," the court-ordered. Mello said Tuesday that he will appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court. "I think it violates due process and equal protection to order a death row prisoner to be saddled with an inept public defender office that has a track record of botching the investigation in this very case," Mello said. "I think it's a little hypocritical of the court to trash me and then stick Hoe with this quack public defender." Mello has accused CCR of among other things, threatening and intimidating DILisio before the recantation. CCR has denied the allegation. Martin McClain, chief assistant at CCR, acknowledged Tuesday that Spaziano doesn't want the agency as his attorney. "We're willing to do it and we want to do a good job, but it's difficult to be forced upon someone who doesn't want you," McClain said. The opinion Tuesday does give leeway for a volunteer lawyer to take over the case, and Mello said he has been talking to Florida law firms that may be willing to step in. The stay was no surprise to thise who have watched recent flap over who will represent Spaziano. "The way it was set up by Mello and the CCR's reaction, it was pretty clrar that the court was left with very little alternatice said Dexter Douglas, general counsel for Gov. Lawton Chiles. "We'll honor the stay until they (Supreme Court justices) life it and at that time, a new warrant will most probably be issued unless there is some change in the situation," Douglass said. The evidentiary hearing could lead to a new trial for Spaziano. Only Willie Darden has survived past the fifth death warrant. He was electrocuted in March 1988 on his seventh warrant. Spaziano had just finished a cist with his mother and sister Tuesday afternoon when Mello called him at Florida State Prison with news of the stay. "I said, 'Happy birthday,'" said Mello. " There was a few seconds of silence. Then he said, 'Thank God, thank you." In Jacksonville, Laura Lynn Harberts' father wasn't surprised; He said he expected a stay after controversy over DiLisio's recantation, He lives with constant reminders of his daughter he said, and gets discouraged that the man conivcted of killing her still is alive. But he doesn't hate Spaziano. "I learned a long time ago that it doesn't do any food to hate somebody," Harberts said. "The hate eats you up." [end of article] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Justices grant stay to Spaziano Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Description An account of the resource The Florida State Supreme Court halted Joseph Spaziano's execution. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rado, Diane Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived St. Petersburg Times Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-13-09 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/6f4b45068640818d40a33d967d219c33.jpg c440d58ba691144356781d864790a458 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Header] Florida Supreme Court grants Spaziano a stay of execution By Brad Barnes News Journal Staff Writer [[start article]] On Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spazian-o’s 50th birthday, the Florida Supreme Court announced he will not be executed as planned next week, because his attorney refused to cooperate with state lawyers. “I had the real pleasure of telling Joe about the stay, which he thought of as his birthday present from me,” said Spaziano’s attorney Michael Mello. “Isn’t that just pure Hollywood?” It is the fifth time Spaziano has dodged a death warrant for the 1973 murder of Laura Lynn Har-berts, an 18-year-old Orlando hos-pital worker. Spaziano’s fourth stay was granted in June, after Tony DiLi-sio, 37, of Pensacola told authori-ties in June his damning testi-mony against Spaziano 20 years ago was coerced by police. “He asked me to send his thanks and his love to Tony DiLisio,” Mello said. “Joe was very, very impressed and grateful that Tony had the guys to stick his neck out the way he did in this.” After an investigation, Gov. Law-ton Chiles rejected DiLisio’s claims and signed a new warrant, scheduling Spaziano’s execution for Sept. 21. But Tuesday the high court said a indefinite stay was required be-cause Mello has refused to cooper-ate – despite a court order – with a state agency ordered to investi-gate a new Spaziano appeal based on DiLisio’s recanted testimony. Mello refused to send his files to Capital Collateral Representative, a state agency that represents death row inmates. Tuesday’s ruling extended the deadline for the hearing to Nov. 15. In the ruling, the court said that decision by Mello indicated he [[Photo]] [caption] Associated Press. Michael Mello, above, has won a stay of execution for his client, Joseph Spaziano. [end caption] had effectively withdrawn as Spa-ziano’s attorney. The court said it was aware Spaziano is opposed to the agency being involved in his case. “Spaziano is faced with a choice,” the court wrote, saying it was up to him to be represented by CCR, a competent volunteer attorney, or no one. But Mello still considers himself Spaziano’s lawyer. “I do, and so does Joe, and so does his family,” Mello said. [[end article]] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Marshall, Alec Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Florida Supreme Courts grants Spaziano a stay of execution Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Description An account of the resource This article is about a stay of execution granted by the Florida Supreme to Joe Spaziano after Michael Mello refused to send his paperwork to state lawyers. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Barnes, Brad Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Pensacola News Journal Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-13 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English capital punishment death penalty Death Row Florida Joe Spaziano Mello Michael A. Mello Spaziano