Gables Cop Killer To Be Put To Death Wednesday
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – A man convicted of killing a Coral Cables police officer more than three decades ago is scheduled to be put to death Wednesday afternoon.
Manuel Valle, 61, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 4 p.m. for the murder of Officer Louis Pena.
He'll be the first Florida prisoner executed with a new mix of drugs after his lawyers argued unsuccessfully that Valle would feel pain with the new concoction.
In an effort to stop the execution, Dr. David Nichol of Birmingham, England filed an emergency petition Monday with the Florida Supreme Court. Nichol argued that the Danish-made drug used in the lethal injection procedure would violate the federal Controlled Substance Act. The federal law prohibits using sodium pentobarbital, one of three drugs injected during executions, for non-medical purposes. The Food and Drug Administration has declined to enforce the ban against states conducting executions.
Nicholl, though, argued Florida, as a sovereign state, should not sacrifice the rule of law.
Tuesday his bid was rejected.
The execution had been scheduled Aug. 2 but was delayed twice by appeals, the first time by the state Supreme Court and later by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
Both courts rejected Valle's lawyers' arguments about the new drug mix.
When Pena's daughter learned a death warrant had been signed for his killer, she didn't contain her excitement that justice was finally going to be served.
Jeneane Skeen, who was 13 when her father was killed, posted on Facebook, "To all my family and friends that have been anxiously awaiting with me for 33 years. The Governor has signed a death warrant for the bad guy who killed my father! WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
She and other relatives didn't return messages seeking comment on the execution.
Valle's death warrant was the first signed by Gov. Rick Scott.
Scott said he never thought about having to sign death warrants when he was running for governor, but said he takes the responsibility seriously and did a lot of research before choosing to sign Valle's warrant.
"I prayed about it that it was the right thing to do," Scott said. "It's pretty daunting because you're making a choice about someone's life. I know that the day it happens will not be enjoyable ... What you think about is what happened to that family."
In April 2, 1978, Pena stopped Valle for a traffic violation. Officer Gary Spell testified that when he arrived at the scene, Valle was sitting in Pena's patrol car. As Pena was checking the license plate of the car Valle had been driving, Valle walked back to the car, reached inside and then walked back and fired a single shot at Pena. He then fired two shots at Spell, who was saved by his bulletproof vest. Valle fled and was arrested two days later.
A month after his arrest, Valle was convicted of auto theft. He also had prior convictions for forgery.
Valle was first sentenced to die in 1981, but the state Supreme Court ordered a new trial that year. He was again convicted and sentenced to die, but the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the death sentence in 1986. Another jury recommended the death sentence in 1988.
Scott signed Valle's death warrant on June 30 and set the execution date for Aug. 2. The state Supreme Court delayed the execution and asked a lower court to hold a hearing on Valle's claim that use of a new drug as part of the lethal injection mix would be cruel and unusual punishment. On Aug. 3, a Miami-Dade Circuit judge found that the barbiturate pentobarbital is suitable to render a condemned inmate unconscious before two other fatal drugs are administered. Pentobarbital, marketed under the name Nembutal, is replacing a drug whose sole U.S. supplier has stopped making it.
The execution was rescheduled for Sept. 6, but delayed again by the federal appeals court, which later rejected Valle's appeal.
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