The US Supreme Court Wednesday ruled to allow the execution of convicted Florida murderer Donald Dillbeck after he filed last-minute request for a stay. The court denied the appeal just one day before Dillbeck’s execution in a brief decision without any recorded dissents. The Florida State Prison executed Dillbeck Thursday.
In his appeal, Dillbeck argued he was protected under the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution. Dillbeck pointed to two reasons he should not be executed. First, Dillbeck contended that prenatal alcohol exposure caused him to suffer from a neurobehavioral disorder. Dillbeck referenced an earlier case in which the court held that executing someone with an intellectual disability violates the Eighth Amendment’s bar against cruel and unusual punishment. Second, Dillbeck pointed to the common understanding of the Eighth Amendment to bar his execution because a non-unanimous jury sentenced Dillbeck to the death penalty.
Dillbeck was convicted in 1991 for the murder of a Florida woman named Faye Vann. Dillbeck committed the murder in 1990 during a carjacking at a shopping mall in Tallahassee after he escaped from a low-security prison. At the time, Dillbeck was serving a life sentence for killing a deputy sheriff at age 15. Following the 1990 murder, Dillbeck was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery and armed burglary.