'Crazy Joe' defense to dispute secret probe
Dublin Core
Title
'Crazy Joe' defense to dispute secret probe
Subject
Capital punishment
Description
On Tuesday August 29, 1995, "Crazy Joe" Spaziano's defense lawyer Michael Mello challenges death warrant.
Creator
McKinnon, John D.
Source
McKinnon, John D. "'Crazy Joe' defense to dispute secret probe." The Herald (Woodland Park, New Jersey), August 29, 1995.
Publisher
HIST 298, University of Mary Washington
Date
1995-08-29
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
Woodland Park, NJ
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
A defense lawyer plans to challenge the secret state investigation that led Gov. Lawton Chiles to sign a new death warrant last week for “Crazy Joe” Spaziano.
The basic problem with the secret report, said law professor Michael Mello, representing the condemned man: It’s the only part of the state’s case against Spaziano that’s still intact.
At the very least, Spaziano should be allowed to read it and challenge it before it’s used as a justification to kill him, Mello said Monday.
Replied Deputy Attorney Gen-eral Pete Antonacci: “We’re defending the governor. We think the governor acted prop-erly, and we think the warrant is viable and should be carried out.”
The latest twists in the long case began two months ago, when the key trial witness against Spa-ziano recanted his testimony.
At the trial, a teenaged Anthony Dilisio testified that Spaziano took him to a rural trash dump to show off the remains of murdered hospital clerk Laura Harberts. But Dilisio apparently didn’t recall details of the gruesome scene until he had been questioned extensively by police and hypnotized twice.
Now, he says the memory was fabricated and his testimony was coached by investigators.
In the wake of the revelations, Chiles postponed Spaziano’s exe-cution and ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to examine the case. Last week, Chiles signed another death war-rant for September after FDLE agents reported that several peo-ple--who were promised confi-dentiality by the state--recalled hearing statement that impli-cated Spaziano around the time of the murder.
Mello said he’ll add the chal-lenge to his pending appeal before the state Supreme Court. But Mello says he’s not planning to pursue further appeals in the fed-eral district court if the current petition is rejected.
The basic problem with the secret report, said law professor Michael Mello, representing the condemned man: It’s the only part of the state’s case against Spaziano that’s still intact.
At the very least, Spaziano should be allowed to read it and challenge it before it’s used as a justification to kill him, Mello said Monday.
Replied Deputy Attorney Gen-eral Pete Antonacci: “We’re defending the governor. We think the governor acted prop-erly, and we think the warrant is viable and should be carried out.”
The latest twists in the long case began two months ago, when the key trial witness against Spa-ziano recanted his testimony.
At the trial, a teenaged Anthony Dilisio testified that Spaziano took him to a rural trash dump to show off the remains of murdered hospital clerk Laura Harberts. But Dilisio apparently didn’t recall details of the gruesome scene until he had been questioned extensively by police and hypnotized twice.
Now, he says the memory was fabricated and his testimony was coached by investigators.
In the wake of the revelations, Chiles postponed Spaziano’s exe-cution and ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to examine the case. Last week, Chiles signed another death war-rant for September after FDLE agents reported that several peo-ple--who were promised confi-dentiality by the state--recalled hearing statement that impli-cated Spaziano around the time of the murder.
Mello said he’ll add the chal-lenge to his pending appeal before the state Supreme Court. But Mello says he’s not planning to pursue further appeals in the fed-eral district court if the current petition is rejected.
Original Format
Newspaper
Contributor of the Digital Item
Payne, Shannon
Student Editor of the Digital Item
Williams, Megan
Files
Citation
McKinnon, John D., “'Crazy Joe' defense to dispute secret probe,” HIST299, accessed March 12, 2026, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/items/show/193.