'Crazy Joe' appeal request on hold
Dublin Core
Title
'Crazy Joe' appeal request on hold
Subject
Florida Supreme Court
Spaziano, Joe
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Description
The Florida Supreme Court has put a hold on "Crazy Joe" Spaziano's latest appeal attempt because the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is still investigating his murder case to figure out if there is any new evidence.
Creator
Nickens, Tim
Source
The Herald
Publisher
HIST 298, University of Mary Washington
Date
1995-08
Rights
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
1 JPG
300 DPI
Language
English
Coverage
Orlando, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Supreme Court has put on hold "Crazy Joe" Spaziano's latest appeal to overturn his death sentence until Gov. Lawton Chiles decides whether the convicted killer should be granted clemency.
In an order Thursday, the court said it will hold Spaziano's motion for a new hearing "in abeyance" until Chiles announces his decision.
When the governor will announce his intentions isn't clear.
Dexter Douglass, the governor's general counsel, said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is still investigating the 22-year-old murder case to determine whether there is any new evidence.
"We don't have any timetable on this," Douglass said. "We haven't gotten all of the information we are going to have."
Chiles is being asked to absolve Spaziano of the charges that have kept him on Death Row since 1976. The former motorcycle gang leader was scheduled to be executed on June 27, but Chiles granted an indefinite stay after the state's main witness recanted key testimony.
That witness, Anthony Dilisio of Pensacola, now says that what he testified to two decades ago wasn't true. He said he was coerced by police - and his father - to say that Spaziano took him to a rural dump and showed him the bodies of two women he said he killed.
The case involved the death of Laura Harberts, an 18-year-old records clerk at an Orlando hospital, whose remains were found in rural Seminole County in 1973, and another person, never identified.
Dilisio told The Herald in June that his memory is clearer about the time in his life when, as a teenager, he was the star witness in the sensational murder trial and a rape trial.
Vermont law Professor Michael Mello, Spaziano's lawyer, called Thursday's court order "a very novel approach to judicial abstention - that the court ought to postpone a ruling pending a decision by another branch of government."
But Mello said he is not optimistic that FDLE's new investigation will persuade Chiles to spare Spaziano. Only the government can recommend clemency, and then his recommendation must be approved by three Cabinet members.
In an order Thursday, the court said it will hold Spaziano's motion for a new hearing "in abeyance" until Chiles announces his decision.
When the governor will announce his intentions isn't clear.
Dexter Douglass, the governor's general counsel, said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is still investigating the 22-year-old murder case to determine whether there is any new evidence.
"We don't have any timetable on this," Douglass said. "We haven't gotten all of the information we are going to have."
Chiles is being asked to absolve Spaziano of the charges that have kept him on Death Row since 1976. The former motorcycle gang leader was scheduled to be executed on June 27, but Chiles granted an indefinite stay after the state's main witness recanted key testimony.
That witness, Anthony Dilisio of Pensacola, now says that what he testified to two decades ago wasn't true. He said he was coerced by police - and his father - to say that Spaziano took him to a rural dump and showed him the bodies of two women he said he killed.
The case involved the death of Laura Harberts, an 18-year-old records clerk at an Orlando hospital, whose remains were found in rural Seminole County in 1973, and another person, never identified.
Dilisio told The Herald in June that his memory is clearer about the time in his life when, as a teenager, he was the star witness in the sensational murder trial and a rape trial.
Vermont law Professor Michael Mello, Spaziano's lawyer, called Thursday's court order "a very novel approach to judicial abstention - that the court ought to postpone a ruling pending a decision by another branch of government."
But Mello said he is not optimistic that FDLE's new investigation will persuade Chiles to spare Spaziano. Only the government can recommend clemency, and then his recommendation must be approved by three Cabinet members.
Original Format
Newspaper
Contributor of the Digital Item
Simmerman, Ryan
Student Editor of the Digital Item
Dickinson, Terra
Files
Citation
Nickens, Tim, “'Crazy Joe' appeal request on hold,” HIST299, accessed March 12, 2026, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/items/show/186.