Death Penalty

Edward James, 63, made no statement before the three-drug injection, and officials reported no complications. It was the state's second execution this year, with a third is slated for April 8.

State Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, filed the bill, which he says would be a critical tool in the fight against human trafficking,. He calls the crime "a scourge that is worth taking on."

James Dennis Ford was put to death with a lethal injection as about 25 witnesses watched at Florida State Prison. He was found guilty of murdering Gregory and Kimberly Malnory during a fishing trip.

The capital punishment measure was among a suite of bills in a compromised plan both chambers are expected to vote on today. Wednesday's discussion focused on the in-state tuition proposal.

The Supreme Court declined to issue a stay of execution or take up an appeal by James Ford. He is set to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Florida State Prison outside Starke.

About 30 years have passed since Loran was found guilty of both first-degree murder and sexual battery.

Death row inmate Loran Cole is appealing the state's lethal injection procedures to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody argues that Cole waited too long to raise his claims.

Loran Cole is slated to be executed Thursday for raping a woman and murdering her brother in 1994. Now Cole is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution.

The Supreme Court decision rejected a series of arguments, including claims related to abuse Cole suffered as a teenager at the state’s notorious Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.

Loran Cole, 57, was sent to Death Row in the February 1994 murder of Florida State University student John Edwards, who went to the Ocala National Forest to camp with his sister, a student at Eckerd College, court records show.

Marion County Circuit Judge Robert Hodges on Thursday refused to vacate Cole’s death sentence.

The ruling likely will set off a flurry of appeals in the runup to the scheduled Aug. 29 execution of Loran Cole. Cole was sentenced to death in the February 1994 murder of John Edwards, who went to the Ocala National Forest to camp with his sister, a student at Eckerd College, court records show.