The Florida Supreme Court on Friday unanimously rejected an appeal by a Death Row inmate convicted of killing a Florida State University student three decades ago, likely setting in motion last-minute federal court appeals before a scheduled execution next week.
Attorneys for Loran Cole launched state court appeals after Gov. Ron DeSantis in late July signed a death warrant that would lead to Cole鈥檚 execution Thursday at Florida State Prison.
The Supreme Court decision rejected a series of arguments, including claims related to abuse Cole suffered as a teenager at the state鈥檚 notorious Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.
Cole鈥檚 attorneys contended the abuse at the now-shuttered reform school contributed to his behavior. They also pointed to a recently passed law that set up a compensation program for people who were abused at the Jackson County school and the Okeechobee School in South Florida, saying the law constituted 鈥渘ewly discovered evidence鈥� that warranted a fresh look at Cole鈥檚 death sentence.
READ MORE: Dozier School for Boys survivors discuss a compensation program
The law, approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis, set aside $20 million for people who attended the schools between 1940 and 1975. Cole, who was 17 when he was sent to Dozier in 1984, would not be eligible for the compensation.
The Supreme Court, upholding an Aug. 8 decision by Marion County Circuit Judge Robert Hodges, said the new law 鈥渄oes not amount to newly discovered evidence鈥� that would require another review.
鈥淚ndeed, we have routinely held that resolutions, consensus opinions, articles, research, and the like do not satisfy the standard,鈥� said the opinion shared by Chief Justice Carlos Mu帽iz and Justices Charles Canady, John Couriel, Renatha Francis Jamie Grosshans, Jorge Labarga and Meredith Sasso.
Cole鈥檚 lawyers for years have argued that his six-month stint at Dozier played a role in the behavior that led to the 1994 murder of Florida State student John Edwards, who was on a camping trip in the Ocala National Forest.
But the 2024 law added a new twist to the legal pleadings, with Cole鈥檚 lawyers arguing the compensation program showed that the state admitted it was 鈥渃omplicit鈥� in the mistreatment of students at the reform schools.
Cole said he was raped by a guard, beaten at least twice a week and had both of his legs broken after trying to escape during his six-month stint at Dozier, court documents dating back more than a decade said.
鈥淭hat horrible place helped create the Loran Cole who sits on Death Row today,鈥� his lawyers argued in an appeal filed at the Supreme Court in 2011.
But Friday鈥檚 ruling said that Cole鈥檚 claims about the school were not new and were procedurally barred from being raised years after a court deadline for such arguments.
鈥淭he state of Florida鈥檚 decision to now compensate some of those individuals who attended the school does not revive Cole鈥檚 previously denied postconviction claims,鈥� the opinion said.
Court filings contended Cole suppressed memories of his experiences at Dozier, with the memories resurfacing after he watched a documentary in 2009 about abuse at the school.
But Friday鈥檚 ruling disputed the suppressed-memories argument, pointing to Hodges鈥� ruling, which found that the Dozier issue was raised in an 鈥渋nvestigation report鈥� before a jury鈥檚 unanimous death-sentence recommendation in 1995.
Death-penalty opponents, however, have said Cole鈥檚 trauma at Dozier deserves another look.
鈥淚t鈥檚 concerning that the state has recognized, through recent legislation, the horrors of what occurred at Dozier but, at the same time, seeks to proceed with executing Cole without allowing him an opportunity to litigate his claims based on the abuse he endured at Dozier. The court鈥檚 ruling today gets the state one step closer to being able to complete Cole鈥檚 execution,鈥� Melanie Kalmanson, an attorney and author of the 鈥淭racking Florida鈥檚 Death Penalty鈥� blog, told the News Service of Florida on Friday.
Justices also rejected arguments related to Cole鈥檚 symptoms of Parkinson鈥檚 disease, which his lawyers said could lead to 鈥渘eedless pain and suffering鈥� during the triple-drug lethal injection process.
鈥淐ole鈥檚 Parkinson鈥檚 symptoms will make it impossible for Florida to safely and humanely carry out his execution because his involuntary body movements will affect the placement of the intravenous lines necessary to carry out an execution by lethal injection,鈥� a brief filed by Cole鈥檚 lawyers said.
But the Supreme Court ruling said Cole, 57, who has suffered from Parkinson鈥檚 since at least 2017, 鈥渇ailed to raise any argument related to the method of execution until after the governor signed a death warrant鈥� on July 29.
鈥淩egardless, Cole鈥檚 claim is meritless,鈥� the decision said.
Florida鈥檚 lethal injection protocol requires the intravenous administration of three drugs: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart from beating.
Cole鈥檚 appeal did not meet the threshold requirements of establishing 鈥渢hat the method of execution presents a substantial and imminent risk that is sure or very likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering,鈥� the Supreme Court ruling said.
鈥淲e have already rejected challenges to the 鈥� protocol based upon the possibility of involuntary movements,鈥� the ruling said. 鈥淎nd we have repeatedly recognized that the Department of Corrections is entitled to the presumption that it will comply with the lethal injection protocol. 鈥� That protocol includes safeguards to ensure the condemned is unconscious throughout the execution.鈥�
Cole was sentenced to death in the February 1994 murder of Edwards, who went to the Ocala National Forest to camp with his sister, a student at Eckerd College, court records show.
Cole and another man, William Paul, joined the brother and sister at their campsite. After they decided to walk to a pond, Cole knocked Edwards鈥� sister to the ground and ultimately handcuffed her, the records said. Paul took the sister up a trail, and John Edwards died from a slashed throat and blows to the head that fractured his skull, according to the court records. Edwards鈥� sister was sexually assaulted and was tied to two trees the next morning before freeing herself. (In most cases, The News Service of Florida does not identify sexual-assault victims by name.)
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