(CNN) -- A flurry of last-minute legal maneuvers Tuesday spared, for now, the life of John Ferguson, a Florida death row inmate who suffers from mental illness and at one point called himself the 'prince of God.' Ferguson, a diagnosed schizophrenic convicted of killing eight people, was scheduled to get the lethal injection Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET at a Florida State Prison. But an appeals court in Atlanta granted an emergency stay of execution Tuesday night. Florida officials then asked the Supreme Court to allow the lethal injection to proceed. Just before midnight the high court denied Florida's request, keeping in place the stay of execution, according to court documents. http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/23/justice/florida-ferguson-execution/index.html … [Read more...]
Miami attorney David Podein triumphs with fellow cancer survivors on Alaskan Mountain Range
SPECIAL to The Florida Law Journal -- MIAMI -- While some lawyers enjoy relaxing at a beach or resort for their vacations away from the office, David Podein had something different – and much colder – in mind. He’d already had a work-filled summer that included a professional triumph in which he prevailed in a 10-day construction arbitration. But he followed that with a quiet personal victory, when he embarked on a six-day mountaineering expedition on the Coffee Glacier in the Alaskan Mountain Range with five fellow cancer survivors. During his second year at the University of Miami School of Law, Podein was diagnosed with cancer. He withdrew from class and moved back home to Michigan so his parents could help with his medical care as he underwent three months of rigorous chemotherapy treatment. Now a proud cancer survivor more than five years, Podein lives in Miami and … [Read more...]
Rocky Howard, William Mechler, Off-Duty Florida Police, Fatally Shoot ‘Armed, Naked’ Female
TAMPA, Fla. -- Two off-duty Florida law-enforcement officers fatally shot an armed, naked woman who confronted them at a social gathering Saturday, authorities said. The shooting occurred at about 1:15 p.m. Saturday in Hernando County, north of Tampa. The county sheriff's office said in a news release that the men were approached by an "armed, naked and irrational female." The news release does not identify the weapon, but it says "one or both of the law enforcement officers fired their weapons, striking the female." She died at the scene. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the shooting in the Spring Hill community. Authorities have identified the officers as Hernando County sheriff's Detective Rocky Howard and Tampa police officer William Mechler, who have served six and four years, respectively. … [Read more...]
