TAVARES -- A
Lake County judge has dismissed a motion by former Mascotte police officer
James Duckett to have his 1988 conviction for the murder and rape of an
11-year-old girl dismissed.
Duckett, 43, is on death row for the May 11, 1987 rape, strangling and
drowning of Teresa Mae McAbee, whom he picked up at a convenience store
while cruising in his patrol car.
Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett's Aug. 10 order denying Duckett's motion
rejected 14 separate claims. Lockett ruled in some instances that evidence
didn't prove Duckett's claims and ruled in others that Duckett's claims
lacked legal merit.
Duckett's filing argued that his trial attorney, Jack Edmund, was
ineffective and that better representation could have altered the jury's
decision.
But Lockett didn't see any problem with Duckett's representation.
"Mr. Edmund's assistance and performance were reasonable under
prevailing, professional norms," Lockett wrote.
Duckett also argued that a state witness, Grace Gurley, lied during the
trial and later recanted her story.
Lockett found that argument irrelevant.
"The court specifically finds that had Grace Gurley not testified at
the original trial, the results would have been the same, a guilty verdict
for the defendant," Lockett wrote.
Gurley testified that she saw Duckett drive from the convenience store
with a small person in the car.
In another instance, Duckett challenged the handling of forensic
evidence in the case.
Investigators found McAbee's fingerprints on the hood of Duckett's
patrol car. They found very distinct tire tracks that matched the tires on
his vehicle near the crime scene. They also found a single pubic hair in
McAbee's underwear, which an FBI analyst said matched Duckett's hair.
"The issue of the tires, tire prints, fingerprints and, most
importantly, pubic hair points to Mr. Duckett as being the perpetrator of
this crime," Lockett wrote.
