Alarm as Florida rushes to carry out ‘incredibly rare’ double execution

Key Points:

• Florida is set to carry out its first double execution in a single day since 1976, with James Duckett scheduled for lethal injection at noon and Dominick Occhicone six hours later, pending any last-minute legal stays.
• This would mark the first time since 2017 that a US death penalty state has conducted more than one execution in a day, highlighting Florida's aggressive pace under Governor Ron DeSantis, who has overseen 19 executions last year and 10 so far this year.
• Experts and human rights groups warn that rushing executions increases the risk of botched procedures and suffering, citing Florida's use of expired drugs, improper dosages, and secrecy that limits accountability during executions.
• Both men scheduled for execution have complicating factors: Occhicone, at 80, would be Florida’s oldest executed prisoner, and Duckett maintains his innocence amid inconclusive DNA evidence; neither was sentenced unanimously by their juries.
• The surge in executions in Florida reflects broader challenges in southern US death penalty states, including difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs and growing scrutiny over unreliable forensic methods leading to wrongful convictions.