Florida Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence, Rejects Ernest Suggs New Evidence Claims

Court Affirms Ruling Against Ernest Suggs, Citing Lack of Due Diligence and Unreliable Information in His Appeals

In a decision Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the summary denial of two successive appeals by Ernest D. Suggs, a man on death row for a 1990 murder. The court found that Suggs’ claims of newly discovered evidence, which included a serial killer’s alleged confession, were untimely and procedurally barred.

Suggs was convicted of the first-degree murder and kidnapping of Pauline Casey, who was stabbed and left on a dirt road, as well as robbery. After a jury recommended a death sentence, the trial court imposed it, a decision that the state’s highest court later affirmed.

In his third and fourth postconviction motions, Suggs presented several new claims. The most p