Three exonerated former death row prisoners in Florida have called on incoming governor Byron Donalds to halt the state’s record run of executions and review the cases of all 235 prisoners who are now condemned. At a press conference in Tallahassee on Thursday hosted by the advocacy group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP), the men said they were seeking a roundtable discussion with Donalds, a Republican, as well as the state’s new legislative leaders in pursuit of a moratorium. Florida leads the country in both executions and exonerations, and next Thursday’s scheduled execution of convicted murderer Thomas Overton will be the state’s 20th this year, one more than the record of 19 set in 2025.
Herman Lindsey, who was exonerated in 2009 after spending three years on death row after his wrongful conviction for the 1994 killing of a pawn shop owner, said he hoped Donalds would be more sympathetic than termed-out governor Ron DeSantis, who will have signed 50 death warrants by the time he leaves office. All but two of those death sentences were carried out during DeSantis’ second term, which will end in January. When you are the person facing execution, you cannot afford for everyone to assume that somebody else has already checked everything.
It’s time we end the death penalty.” Grace Hanna, executive director of FADP, said her group was keen to work with Donalds after he takes office. In a statement to the Miami Herald, a representative for his transition team suggested such a moratorium was unlikely. Donalds, the spokesperson said, “is a staunch supporter of the death penalty and will govern as such”.
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