Two weeks from now, Florida plans to execute Chadwick “Khalil” Willacy.
A little over one week later, James “Erny” Hitchcock is also scheduled to
be executed. Both cases, and the legal claims brought by these two men,
deserve attention. But first, I want to give you the chance to take action:
Chadwick “Khalil” Willacy: Execution Scheduled for Tuesday, April 21 @ 6 p.m.
James “Erny” Hitchcock: Execution Scheduled for Thursday, April 30 @ 6 p.m.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s some background on the cases:
Both Khalil and Erny have filed legal challenges seeking access to records
related to Florida’s lethal injection protocol. We talk a lot about this
issue in general terms, but I think it’s worth revisiting what that actually means:
- In 2025, Florida executed 19 people. The 19th man, Frank Walls, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit prior to his execution.
- He claimed that his medical conditions made it especially likely he would suffer severe pain during the execution.
- His lawsuit included records from Florida’s Department of Corrections obtained through public records requests.
- Those records showed that, across multiple executions in the months leading up to his case, the State had carried out executions using:
- Expired drugs
- Partial dosages
- Substances not authorized under its own protocol
- Concerns are heightened by how several executions in 2025 proceeded:
- Bryan Jennings’ execution lasted 20 minutes
- Tommy Gudinas’ eyes rolled back, and he experienced chest convulsions for several minutes while on the table
- And, in 2026:
- Billy Kearse’s execution took 24 minutes. He lay motionless on the table for the final 15 minutes before being pronounced dead.
- All the while, the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court have
both repeatedly ruled that the limited records obtained by Frank Walls do
not actually prove that anything improper is happening. They ask
defendants to, essentially, “come back when you have more proof.”
The major issue with that is that the State of Florida is no longer providing
records related to lethal injection through public records requests.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wisely described this as a “Catch-22,” where the State
is blocking access to the information needed to prove that the state is doing something wrong.
Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong here.
Anticipating that the courts would do exactly what they’d done in every
case before, Khalil Willacy and his lawyers decided to request records
from last year’s execution in advance of him actually receiving a death warrant.
This would help him avoid the “Catch-22” that Justice Sotomayor described.
Except, it didn’t. Instead of any response to his request for records,
Khalil received a death warrant.
Just six days after seeking information about the State’s ability to carry out
its most extreme power, the Governor scheduled his execution, effectively cutting
off any meaningful opportunity for him to get the information necessary to bring a viable legal claim.
Was his death warrant retaliatory? Was it just a strange coincidence?
We’ll leave that to you to decide — and for the State to answer in court.
Erny Hitchcock, who turned 70 on Easter Sunday and relies on a wheelchair
to get around, is raising a similar argument: he does not have the records
he needs to present a strong claim that Florida’s failures in the execution
process are leading to prolonged and painful deaths, and the State is wrongfully
blocking his access to information that any citizen should be able to request.
Erny, though, has a twist. In his appeal filed yesterday (called a 3.851 in legal jargon),
Erny argues that he is actually innocent of murder. That is, his defense to the
crime he was sentenced to death for is simple: he did not do it. Two living witnesses
are prepared to back up Erny’s claim that his brother, the victim’s stepfather,
repeatedly confessed to the murder. That same individual has a documented history
of violence against women, including strangulation — behavior that aligns with the
circumstances of the victim’s death.
So, here we are. But things are not hopeless. We know this because all of you
are still here, and so are we. And we are growing in size and strength every
single day. I know that if we could get through last year, we can get through anything.
So let’s keep doing just that.
Onward,
Bridget Maloney
FADP Communications Director
P.S. I know you have questions about Jim Duckett. Trust me, I do too.
Here’s the good news: his execution warrant expired today at noon. His lawyers are
filing their appeals in the Florida Supreme Court right now, and we’ll have more to
share later this week. In the meantime, I highly recommend you check out this
exceptional piece
by the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board, later joined by the South Florida Sun Sentinel as well.
