The State of Florida killed 54-year-old Anthony Wainwright on Tuesday, the state’s sixth execution this year.
State killing is never justified, and each one is a stain on this country’s soul, but Wainwright’s is particularly repugnant because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied a stay of execution for him in part because of the actions of his lead lawyer. As Criminal Law Specialist and DPF Board member Robert M. Sanger explains on his firm’s website, Wainwright “was denied the right to file a petition in Florida state court for relief that was prepared by a lawyer who had represented him in federal court (and was now appearing pro bono at the request of Mr. Wainwright) but was not the lead lawyer designated by the state itself. That lawyer, according to the pleadings, had refused to acknowledge her petition after being asked by the court if he would do so. Allegedly, he did not consult with his client and he made disparaging remarks about the experienced pro bono lawyer wasting time. Writ denied.”
Wainwright’s pro bono lawyer then filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court following the Eleventh Circuit’s denial. The Court could have granted the petition or issued a stay preventing his imminent execution, at least temporarily. The Court, however, denied the stay and the petition for a writ of certiorari.
Wainwright was killed by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. Tuesday.
“What is particularly distressing about Mr. Wainwright’s case is that it reminds us that the courts, including the United States Supreme Court, place finality above remediating serious flaws in the individual cases, including allowing a recalcitrant appointed lawyer to block the efforts of an experienced pro bono lawyer and, in some cases, details like actual innocence,” Sanger wrote.
