TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court is refusing, again, to halt the state's first execution after a hiatus of more than 18 months.
Justices rejected an appeal Monday on behalf of Mark Asay, who is set to die on Thursday for killing two men in Jacksonville in 1987.
Asay, who is white, used a racial epithet when he shot Robert Lee Booker, who is black. The second victim, Robert McDowell, had been described as black in some testimony, but was either white or Hispanic.
The court recently acknowledged misidentifying McDowell's race 26 years ago in its initial review.
Asay's lawyers said this violated due process, but the court ruled that the victim's racial identity was fully explored at trial and did not affect the court's previous rulings.
