Citations:
Bottoson v. State, 443 So. 2d 962, 963 (Fla. 1983) (Direct Appeal).
Bottoson v. Florida, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct. 223, 83 L.Ed.2d 153 (1984). (Cert. Denied).
Bottoson v. State, 674 So. 2d 621 (Fla. 1996) (PCR).
Bottoson v. Florida, 519 U.S. 967, 117 S.Ct. 393, 136 L.Ed.2d 309 (1996). (Cert. Denied).
Bottoson v. Singletary, 685 So.2d 1302 (Fla.1997).
Bottoson v. Moore, 234 F.3d 526 (11th Cir. 2000) (Habeas).
Bottoson v. Florida, 122 S.Ct. 357, 151 L.Ed.2d 270 (2001). (Cert. Denied).
Bottoson v. Moore, 251 F.3d 165 (11th Cir.2001). (Habeas).
Bottoson v. State, 813 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 2002). (Stay)

Final Meal:
Bottoson had already been served his last meal Friday: barbecued ribs, French fries and onion rings, along with cole slaw, apple pie and milk. On the day of his execution, Bottoson ate a regular prison meal that included beef patties, cheese and bread.

Final Words:
Bottoson did not make any statements before his execution.

Internet Sources:

Florida Department of Corrections

United Press International

"Inmate Executed for Killing 23 Years Ago." (UPI December 10, 2002) STARKE, Florida -- Linroy Bottoson was executed by lethal injection Monday at the Florida State Prison in Starke for the torture and slaying of the 74-year-old postmistress of Eatonville, Fla., 23 years ago. He was pronounced dead at 5:12 p.m., 10 minutes after he was injected. Bottoson had no visitors other than the prison chaplain who looked in on him less than two hours before his death. Bottoson had no last words. His body was not claimed by family members and will be cremated and the remains buried at the state prison cemetery located outside the prison walls.

Miami Herald

"Bottoson Executed for 1979 Murder of Eatonville Postmistress," by Ron Word. (AP December 10, 2002)

STARKE, Fla. - Hubert Alexander said a prayer and watched intently Monday as the man who killed his mother 23 years ago was executed by injection. Following a last-day flurry of failed legal appeals, Linroy Bottoson, who believed he was locked in a battle between Satan and Jesus Christ, died at 5:12 p.m. Bottoson was condemned for the Oct. 26, 1979, murder of Catherine Alexander, who was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed 16 times and then fatally crushed by a car.

Alexander and his sister, Eunice Smith, were less than two yards away from Bottoson, who was strapped to a gurney on the other side of a window. "Nothing is going to bring my mother back," Alexander, 78, said after the execution. "The person that did this awful thing to her is gone." The two decades of delays and court hearings were tough on the family, said Alexander, the oldest of Catherine Alexander's six remaining children. "They made me mad," he said. "It made me wonder how long the state of Florida is going to put up with these things like this.

On a row behind the Alexanders sat Peter Cannon, who fought a losing battle to save Bottoson in state and federal courts, trying to prove that his client was insane and mentally retarded. He also challenged the constitutionality of Florida's death penalty statute. Cannon appeared shaken by the execution and left the prison without commenting. The execution came two hours after Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson of Orlando ruled Bottoson competent. The Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal of Johnson's ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected a separate appeal Monday that argued Bottoson was mentally retarded. Bottoson did not make any statements before his execution. When asked if he had any last words, he said, "No sir, no." Bottoson accepted a Valium before he was killed.

As chilly rain fell, eight persons opposed to the death penalty protested in a pasture across the highway. In the ruling that denied Bottoson another delay, Johnson agreed with state psychiatrists who found that Bottoson understood that he was about to die and the reasons for his execution, two requirements under Florida law. Dr. Wade Myers, a state psychologist, testified Monday in Orlando that while Bottoson sometimes heard God and believed if he were to stand at Alexander's grave God would resurrect her, that did not mean Bottoson was mentally ill. "There are evangelists every Sunday who have large viewerships who say they're also receiving the same messages from God," Myers said. But a clinical psychologist hired by Bottoson's lawyers issued a report saying the convict was insane and believed he was locked in a battle between Jesus and Satan.

Bottoson kidnapped Alexander, robbing her post office of $144 and 37 money orders worth $400 each. The 74-year-old woman was held captive for three days - some of that time in a car trunk - before Bottoson killed her. Bottoson was arrested after his wife tried to cash one of the money orders. Alexander's shoes and the knife apparently used to stab her were found in Bottoson's house. No one claimed Bottoson's body, so it will be cremated and buried in a prison cemetery, said Sterling Ivey, a prison spokesman.

Orlando Sentinel

"Execution Ends 21 Years on Death Row," by Sherri Owens and Anthony Colarossi. (December 10, 2002)

STARKE -- Saying little and showing no expression, Linroy Bottoson was executed Monday after spending 21 years on death row for the murder of Catherine Alexander, an Eatonville postmaster. After taking a Valium, Bottoson, 63, entered the death chamber. His fingers were wrapped together, and his wrists and chest were strapped to a gurney where he lay. The intravenous tubing that carried the lethal injection was already in his right arm when the brown curtains opened for about 30 witnesses in the viewing room at Florida State Prison.

When asked by a prison official whether he wanted to make a final statement, Bottoson murmured, "No, sir." A microphone above his head was then turned off. Several seconds later, he opened his mouth and took in a deep breath. Soon his throat fluttered, and all movement stopped. A doctor pronounced Bottoson dead at 5:12 p.m.

Among the witnesses was Alexander's 78-year-old son, Hubert, who had traveled from Williamsburg, Va. "I promised my mother I would be here on this day, and the day finally came," he said. "I guess I'm feeling relieved." Only hours earlier, defense lawyers failed in their attempts to block the execution, arguing that Bottoson was mentally incompetent. They said he didn't realize he was about to be executed. Bottoson, they said, heard voices from God and believed he possessed "supernatural" powers to foresee future events such as terrorist acts. "It's a somber moment for us," said Eric Pinkard, Bottoson's defense attorney with the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel. "I'm hoping he was at peace at the end. But I don't think he had a full understanding of it [his execution]." None of Bottoson's family visited or called Monday.

Bottoson's body was removed in a white hearse and taken to the Alachua Medical Examiner's Office for cremation. Because no one has claimed his body, Bottoson's ashes will be buried in a nearby prison cemetery. Monday was the fourth scheduled date this year for his execution. His execution had been scheduled for Friday, when he had eaten a specially prepared meal. But Monday he ate what other inmates ate: a beef patty with cheese, potatoes, baked beans, two slices of bread, white cake, tea and a salad with cucumbers.

Bottoson's execution brought an angry response from death-penalty opponents, who think he was too mentally ill to be executed. "We killed a mentally ill man tonight," Abe Bonowitz, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Hubert Alexander waited 23 years, one month and 13 days for the state to execute his mother's killer. "It has made me mad," Alexander said. "The system let us down. It has to be dealt with."

Bottoson was convicted in 1981. Alexander was locked in a car trunk for days, stabbed 16 times and then run over repeatedly with Bottoson's car. He had stolen $14,800 in postal money orders and wanted to eliminate Alexander as a witness, prosecutors said. Bottoson confessed the crime to other jail inmates and visitors.

On Monday his attorneys argued that he was incompetent because he suffered severe mental illness, but those claims were dismissed by the courts. Shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, Orange Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson issued a written order finding Bottoson "sane to be executed." The order vacated Bottoson's stay. Last-minute appeals by Bottoson's attorneys to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court were denied.

Dr. Xavier Amador, a clinical psychologist with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, evaluated Bottoson in prison Thursday and said he had "Schizoaffective disorder" a long-term condition "interfering with his ability to process reality." Dr. Wade C. Myers, one of three psychiatrists appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to evaluate Bottoson on Friday, had an entirely different opinion of Bottoson's mental state. "We felt like he clearly understood the nature and effects of the death penalty," Myers said.

Bottoson had indicated to Amador that he was locked in a battle between Jesus and Satan and that he had "supernatural" powers allowing him to see future terrorist acts. He also indicated "God will not allow him to be executed," Amador wrote. Myers testified: "Mr. Bottoson did not relate this sort of information to us." Bottoson's weekend reprieve was the second granted to a death-row inmate by Bush in five days.

But few observers say they take that as a sign that Bush is reconsidering his longtime support for capital punishment. "I think every governor, Jeb Bush included, is a little more careful, because they fear executing an innocent person," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.,-based Death Penalty Information Center. "Governors know that mistakes can be made."

ProDeathPenalty.Com

Linroy Bottoson, a self-professed "minister", was sentenced to death for the murder of 74-year-old Catherine Alexander. On Friday October 26, 1979, the Eatonville, Florida, post office was robbed, and over $14,000 worth of money orders were taken along with about $150 in cash. Catherine Alexander, the postmistress of Eatonville, was last seen leaving the post office on that day at around noon led by a tall African-American man. As she left, she whispered to bystanders to call the police and to tell them that the man was stealing.

Later that day, Linroy Bottoson's wife attempted to cash one of the missing money orders, and Bottoson and his wife came under suspicion. Postal inspectors entered Bottoson's home on Monday October 29 and arrested him and his wife. Upon searching Bottoson's home the next day, postal inspectors found the missing money orders and Catherine's shoes. Catherine's body was found on the side of a dirt road on the same night that the Bottosons were arrested. She had been stabbed fourteen times in the back and once in the abdomen. The medical examiner testified that she died from crushing injuries to the chest and abdomen which were consistent with having been run over by an automobile. The undercarriage of Bottoson's car, a brown Chevelle, contained hair samples and clothing impressions linked to Catherine's hair and clothing. Expert evidence indicated that clothing fibers similar to those in Catherine's clothes and a tip of her fingernail were found in the trunk of Bottoson's car.

At trial, witnesses could not identify Bottoson as the man seen leaving the post office with Catherine but identified from a photograph a red LTD automobile that was rented to Bottoson at the time as the car in which Catherine was taken away. A postal inspector identified the money orders found in Bottoson's home and traced them to the machine at the Eatonville post office. In addition, there was evidence that Bottoson deposited some of the stolen money orders in his bank account. Bottoson's former wife, who was married to him at the time of the murder, testified that Bottoson was away from home around noon on Friday, October 26 and that he gave her a postal money order upon returning home. She testified that on the following Monday, she did not see him from 1:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. and that he had the brown Chevelle at the time.

A jailhouse informant testified that Bottoson confessed to the murder and indicated that the best witness is a dead witness. He also testified that Bottoson said that "the old bitch had a lot of fight in her." Bottoson also gave a written confession to a minister in an effort to obtain leniency. In the confession, Bottoson wrote that "demon spirits" had "got on me." He also made the comment that "dead witnesses are the best witnesses". A jury found Bottoson guilty of first-degree murder. At the sentencing hearing, the state presented an FBI agent who testified that Bottoson was convicted of bank robbery in 1971. Bottoson's counsel presented the testimony of a minister, the minister's wife, and Bottoson's mother, who described Bottoson as kind, honest, respectable, caring, and unselfishly devoted to his church. The jury recommended that Bottoson be sentenced to death, and the trial judge imposed a death sentence on May 1, 1981.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Linroy Bottoson (FL) - Dec. 6, 2002 - 7:00 AM EST

The state of Florida is scheduled to execute Linroy Bottoson, a black man, Dec. 6 for the 1979 murder of Catherine Alexander. Before the crime, a mental hospital categorized Bottoson as a “latent schizophrenic” – a classification describing people who have schizophrenic episodes, but are considered in remission. Evidence supports the claim that Bottoson’s mental illness played a role in the murder; he later testified: “demon spirits had got on me.”

Bottoson allegedly stole money orders from the Eatonville Post Office in Orange County, and kidnapped and murdered the postmistress, Alexander, in the process. Strong evidence linked Bottoson to the crime, and little doubt concerning his involvement emerged as investigations proceeded; however, his mental condition, seemingly the cause of his violent actions, never received full consideration in the case.

Over the years, mental health experts have repeatedly raised red flags concerning Bottoson’s condition, but the state of Florida has maintained its commitment to execute him regardless. Bottoson’s belief in his ability to raise the dead has not convinced the state to consider his mental illness, nor have his religious hallucinations.

On Nov. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court intervened to stop James Colburn’s execution in Texas because of concerns over his mental illness. Gov. Bush evidently learned nothing from that last-minute action by the court, and failed to concern himself with the fact that Bottoson, now awaiting execution in Florida, suffers from mental illness as well.

The states need to stop ignoring such cases and evaluate mental illness circumstances more thoroughly. Florida, Texas, and the other death penalty states should certainly be able to cut these cases off before the U.S. Supreme Court has to act on eve of execution appeals. Please write the state of Florida and request a stay of this execution and a re-evaluation of Linroy Bottoson’s mental condition.

Naples Daily News

"Bottoson Executed for 1979 Murder of Eatonville Postmistress," by Ron Word. (AP 12-10-02)

STARKE — Linroy Bottoson, an inmate who believed he was locked in a battle between Satan and Jesus Christ, was executed Monday for the kidnapping, robbery and slaying of the Eatonville postmistress 23 years ago. Bottoson was pronounced dead at 5:12 p.m. for the Oct. 26, 1979, murder of Catherine Alexander, who was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed 16 times and then fatally crushed by a car.

The execution by lethal injection came two hours after Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson of Orlando ruled Bottoson competent. The Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal of Johnson's ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected a separate appeal Monday that argued Bottoson was mentally retarded. Bottoson did not make any statements before his execution, which was viewed by some of the victim's children. When asked if he had any last words, he said, "No sir, no." Bottoson accepted Valium before he was killed. For the family, the execution brought some closure. "You don't rejoice in a person dying," said Hubert Alexander, the victim's 78-year-old son, who witnessed the execution with his sister, Eunice Smith. "But we rejoice that we can get on with our lives." "Nothing is going to bring my mother back," he said. "The person that did this awful thing to her is gone."

As chilly rain fell, eight people opposed to the death penalty protested in a pasture across the highway from the prison. Earlier Monday, Bottoson, 63, ate a regular prison meal that included beef patties, cheese and bread. He did not get a special meal because was given one on two other occasions when his executions were postponed. In the ruling that denied Bottoson another delay, Johnson agreed with state psychiatrists who found that Bottoson understood that he was about to die and the reasons for his execution, two requirements under Florida law.

Dr. Wade Myers, a state psychologist, testified Monday in Orlando that while Bottoson sometimes heard God and believed if he were to stand at Alexander's grave God would resurrect her, that did not mean Bottoson was mentally ill. "There are evangelists every Sunday who have large viewerships who say they're also receiving the same messages from God," Myers said. "I think when you begin to label fundamental Christian beliefs as psychosis, it's not justified." But a clinical psychologist hired by Bottoson's lawyers issued a report saying the convict was insane and believed he was locked in a battle between Jesus and Satan. Court documents showed that Bottoson's mother was obsessed with religion and forced Bottoson to constantly read the Bible, pray, and preach from street corners from the time he was seven to nine years of age. In the summer of 1962, Bottoson attempted suicide in his church. He was taken to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with an acute schizophrenic episode.

Bottoson kidnapped Alexander, robbing her post office of $144 and 37 money orders worth $400 each. The 74-year-old woman was held captive for three days — some of that time in a car trunk — before Bottoson killed her. Bottoson was arrested after his wife tried to cash one of the money orders. Alexander's shoes and the knife apparently used to stab her were found in Bottoson's house.

Bottoson is not the first person executed in Florida who was alleged to be incompetent. In June 2000, Thomas Provenzano was executed although he believed he was Jesus Christ. Provenzano, 51, was executed for the murder of William "Arnie" Wilkerson, one of three bailiffs shot in 1984 when the unemployed electrician opened fire. The other two bailiffs were paralyzed; one has since died.

Florida has executed two others inmates this year, both of them in October. Since Florida reimposed the death penalty in 1976, 53 inmates have been executed. A total of 250 have died since the state took over executions from the counties in 1924, including a federal inmate who died in the electric chair for murder on the high seas.

TCPalm.Com

"Killer Linroy Bottoson Executed; The sentence was carried out after the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals on his behalf," by Ron Word. (AP December 10, 2002)

STARKE - Linroy Bottoson, an inmate who believed he was locked in a battle between Satan and Jesus Christ, was executed Monday for the kidnapping, robbery and slaying of the Eatonville postmistress 23 years ago. Bottoson pronounced dead at 5:12 p.m. for the Oct. 26, 1979, murder of Catherine Alexander, who was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed 16 times and then fatally crushed by a car.

The execution by lethal injection came two hours after Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson of Orlando ruled Bottoson competent. The Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal of Johnson's ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected an appeal Monday that argued Bottoson was mentally retarded. When asked if he had any last words, Bottoson said, "No sir, no." He accepted Valium before the execution, which was viewed by the victim's son and other family members. Earlier Monday, Bottoson ate a regular prison meal that included beef patties, cheese and bread. He did not get a special meal because was given one on two other occasions when his executions were postponed.

In his ruling, Johnson agreed with state psychiatrists who found that Bottoson understood that he was about to die and the reasons for his execution, two requirements under Florida law. Dr. Wade Myers, a state psychologist, testified Monday in Orlando that while Bottoson sometimes hears God and believes if he were to stand at Alexander's grave God would resurrect her, that does not mean Bottoson is mentally ill. "There are evangelists every Sunday who have large viewerships who say they're also receiving the same messages from God," Myers said. "I think when you begin to label fundamental Christian beliefs as psychosis, it's not justified."

But a clinical psychologist hired by Bottoson's lawyers issued a report saying he is insane. "Mr. Bottoson's chronic mental illness renders him unable to rationally and factually understand and appreciate the reason the State of Florida is seeking his execution and unable to factually comprehend that his death will in fact occur," psychologist Xavier Amador wrote after meeting with him last week. "He understands himself to be locked in the middle of a battle between Jesus and Satan, a battle he is certain, as one of God's prophets, Jesus will win."

Court documents show that Bottoson's mother was obsessed with religion and forced Bottoson to constantly read the Bible, pray, and preach from street corners from ages seven to nine.

Miami Herald

"Bush Reschedules Killer's Execution; Three challenges to death sentence fail," by Phil Long.

ST. AUGUSTINE -- A panel of three psychiatrists on Friday found Linroy Bottoson competent to be executed. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal appeals court in Atlanta rejected challenges to his death sentence Friday. But Florida Gov. Jeb Bush extended a temporary postponement of Bottoson's date with death, originally scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, until 5 p.m. Monday.

Bottoson's attorney, Peter Cannon, who says his client is mentally retarded and hears voices from God and Satan, may appeal the decision on mental competency to a circuit court in Orlando, but no decisions had been made late Friday. Bottoson was hospitalized with mental problems when he was young and has been schizophrenic since, Cannon said. Under Florida law, being competent to be executed means that Bottoson knows the ''nature and effect'' of the death penalty and knows why it's being imposed, said Carolyn Snurkowski, chief appeals attorney for the state attorney general's office.

Late Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a request for a stay of execution and refused to hear Bottoson's assertion that Florida's death-penalty law is unconstitutional. Also on Friday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta rejected Bottoson's request for further hearings on his claim that he is mentally retarded. Bottoson, 63, was convicted of the 1979 slaying of Eatonville postmistress Catherine Alexander. He kidnapped her, stole cash and money orders and stuffed her in the trunk of a car. He stabbed her 15 times, then ran over her with the car, court records show.

Bush granted the temporary delay because Florida law requires an examination and a court review when an inmate, or someone else, claims the condemned person is incompetent or insane, officials said. Bush expressed concern for the family members of the victim who have to endure yet another delay. ''The people opposed to the death penalty are using every possible loophole to delay justice,'' Bush said Friday.

Cannon said he, too, is sympathetic, adding that these times are ''horrible'' for the families of the victim and Bottoson's family. But he objected to the word loophole. ''There are no loopholes, just laws,'' Cannon said. Bottoson had already been served his last meal Friday -- barbecued ribs, French fries and onion rings, along with cole slaw, apple pie and milk.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The Execution of the "Insane".

Should Linroy Bottoson be executed for the heinous, tortuous murder he committed on Catherine Alexander? If, in fact, he "lacks the mental capacity to understand the fact of the impending execution and the reason for it", then Florida law says he should not be executed.

Governor Bush appointed three doctors who say Mr. Bottoson does have that capacity. Unfortunately, the Governor, as well as the state's prosecutors, have not released the reports issued by those doctors. Mr. Bottoson's counsel had him examined last Thursday by Dr. Xavier Amador. Among Dr. Amador's many accomplishments and credentials are that he is immediate past Director of Research, Education and Practice at the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). Dr. Amador also Co-Chaired the latest revision of the "Schizophrenia and Related Disorders" section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM IV). In other words, he helped write the diagnostic manual that Florida's three doctors used to find Mr. Bottoson competent. Dr. Amador's Report finds that Mr. Bottoson is not competent and his report is available to the public at http://www.FADP.org.

I am sure many of you are wondering why any of this matters. Mr. Bottoson killed Mrs. Alexander, shouldn't he receive the death penalty?

But ask yourself, since the State of Florida is preparing to execute a man in your name and in the names of all the rest of the citizens of our state, don't you have the right and, and yes, even the responsibility to know if this execution is being done legally and that morally it is the right thing to do? The law states that the person who is to be executed must know that he is going to die. Linroy Bottoson is incapable of such knowledge. In fact, Mr. Bottoson is incapable of much, if any, knowledge of the real world because he does not reside in our world. This man has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia since1962. He lives in a delusion of his diseased brain. In Linroy Bottoson's world, the devil puts on plays called trials. Satan directed the trial and the actors were the jury, the attorneys, the witnesses and the judge. In Mr. Bottoson's world, he is a holy prophet of God and God will not allow him to die because he is needed to save the world from Satan's rule.

This man cannot appreciate his impending death because he is too sick. He is incapable of making his peace with his maker. He is incapable of making any moral judgements about right or wrong. He is incapable of having a meaningful understanding of the crime for which he was convicted.

Linroy Bottoson committed a gruesome crime and deprived a family of their mother, sister, daughter, wife. Many of us advocate for better services for those suffering from these neurobiological brain disorders so that we don't have these horrible and very preventable tragedies. Many of us, like Mrs. Alexander's family, have also lost family and friends to these illnesses. Let us not compound the problem by killing a human being who is so sick that he cannot understand why he is being killed.

NAMI Florida calls on Governor Bush to commute Mr. Bottoson's death sentence to life in prison. It is the moral, the right, and the legal thing to do.

D. Michael Mathes, J.D., President, NAMI Florida

SENT BY:

Abraham J. Bonowitz, Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)

The Death House

"Bottoson Declared Sane, Executed in Florida."

Starke - The man who kidnapped and murdered an elderly postmistress from a small Florida town was executed by lethal injection Monday afternoon after his lawyers failed in last-ditch attempts to convince three courts that he was insane and mentally retarded. Linroy Bottoson, 63, was pronounced dead at 5:12 p.m. He was the third convicted killer executed in Florida since October.

Sterling Ivey, spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections, said Bottoson made no final statement before his execution. He said Bottoson had spent an hour in the afternoon with a prison chaplain and was hopeful that an Orlando circuit court judge would rule him insane and stop the execution. Ivey said that when the court rejected Bottoson’s insanity plea, the condemned man appeared disappointed. Bottoson, a former child street evangelist, was brought into the execution chamber at Florida State Prison shortly before 5 p.m., Ivey said.

Frantic Legal Maneuvering

The execution of Bottoson followed several days of frantic legal maneuvering to block his trip to the Florida death house - including appeals to the circuit court judge in Florida, The Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court - all of which were rejected. Hours before his execution, Bottoson’s defense lawyers had asked the Circuit Court judge during a hearing to declare Bottoson insane. The lawyers said that Bottoson heard voices from God and thought he could resurrect his victim from the dead.

At the hearing, Dr. Wade Myers said that Bottoson had told him if he were to stand at the grave of his murder victim, God would resurrect her and he wouldn't face the death penalty. But, Myers said that did not mean Bottoson was insane. A report from a defense psychologist stated that Bottoson believed he wouldn’t be executed because of his ability to hear God. This ability would prevent a terrorist attack and force the governor to use him to help save lives, Bottoson believed. "Mr. Bottoson's mental disease is rendering him incapable of understanding the nature of the death penalty or why it was imposed on him," Dr. Xavier Amador said in the report.

Bush Ordered Psychiatric Review

Last Friday, Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a team of psychiatrists, including Myers, to examine Bottoson after the condemned man’s lawyers said Bottoson was insane. Florida law says prisoners cannot be executed if they don’t understand that they are going to die and why. Bottoson was scheduled to be executed that day. When the psychiatrists reported Friday that Bottoson was sane, Bush rescheduled the execution for Monday afternoon, triggering more legal attempts by his lawyers to block the execution in the courts. In his Supreme Court appeal, Bottoson's attorneys asked the Justices on Monday to block the execution, arguing that he is mentally retarded and deserves a hearing on that issue. The high court has banned the execution of mentally retarded killers .

Kidnapped Postmistress

Bottoson was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of the 74-year-old postmistress of a small Florida town. The victim, Catherine Willie Alexander, the head of the post office in Eatonville, located north of Orlando, was stabbed numerous times and run over with a car. Prosecutors said she was held for three days by Bottoson before he killed her. She was abducted in October 1979. Bottoson had previously been convicted of robbing a bank in California in 1971. The key evidence against him in the Alexander murder were stolen postal money orders found in his home, as well as the victim’s shoes. Bottoson had also given a confession to a minister, saying that demon spirits had made him slay the woman.

Bottoson was in a mental hospital before the murder and had been diagnosed as a "latent schizophrenic." The Florida Supreme Court had determined in January that there was no proof of Bottoson's mental retardation. They cited scores on IQ tests as well as findings of no deficiencies in adoptive behavior. These are two of the criteria used to determine mental retardation. Critics of the death sentence also said that Bottoson had an inexperienced trial lawyer, paid the equivalent of $13 an hour with little money for investigation, during the trial.

Last Monday, Bush halted the scheduled execution of Amos King to allow his lawyers time to reexamine DNA evidence in the hope the material will prove King innocent of the murder of an elderly woman - a murder committed more than a quarter of a century ago.

Bottoson v. Moore (2002)

The facts of this case are set forth in our initial opinion on direct appeal, wherein we affirmed Bottoson's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. See Bottoson v. State, 443 So. 2d 962, 963-64 (Fla. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct. 223, 83 L.Ed.2d 153 (1984). Bottoson filed his initial rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief in 1985. Subsequently, a death warrant was issued while postconviction proceedings were still pending. The trial court entered an order granting an indefinite stay of execution, and Bottoson subsequently filed several amendments to his 3.850 motion. On November 14, 1991, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing and thereafter denied the motion. This Court affirmed the trial court's denial of postconviction relief, and denied rehearing on May 9, 1996. See Bottoson v. State, 674 So. 2d 621 (Fla. 1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 967, 117 S.Ct. 393, 136 L.Ed.2d 309 (1996). Bottoson also filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, which this Court denied on January 9, 1997. See Bottoson v. Singletary, 685 So.2d 1302 (Fla.1997). On June 2, 1998, Bottoson sought habeas corpus relief in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, which was denied in an unpublished opinion, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial. See Bottoson v. Moore, 234 F.3d 526 (11th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 122 S.Ct. 357, 151 L.Ed.2d 270 (2001). The Eleventh Circuit 3 denied Bottoson's motion for rehearing on February 28, 2001. See Bottoson v. Moore, 251 F.3d 165 (11th Cir.2001).

DEATH WARRANT PROCEEDINGS

On November 19, 2001, the Governor issued a second death warrant, and Bottoson's execution was set for February 5, 2002, at 6 p.m. On January 11, 2002, Bottoson filed a successive postconviction motion, entitled a "Motion to Vacate Judgement and Sentence, and Request for Evidentiary Hearing and Stay of Execution." The trial court held a preliminary Huff [footnote omitted] hearing on January 15, 2002. On the same day the trial court entered an order granting an evidentiary hearing only on the issue of Bottoson's claim that he should not be executed because he is mentally retarded. On January 17, the trial court held the evidentiary hearing and on January 18, the trial court entered an order denying all claims. Bottoson v. State, 813 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 2002).

The United States Supreme Court issued a stay of Bottoson’s execution on February 5, 2002. That stay was lifted on June 28, 2002, and, on July 1, 2002, Bottoson’s execution was rescheduled for July 8, 2002. Following the scheduling of his execution for July 8, 2002, Bottoson informed the Circuit Court of Orange County, Florida, that he would file a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion no later than noon on July 4, 2002. The Circuit Court scheduled a Huff hearing for 10:00 AM on July 5, 2002. Shortly before noon on July 4, 2002, Bottoson informed the Circuit Court that he would not be filing a Rule 3.850 motion. The Circuit Court issued an order allowing Bottoson until 4:30 PM on July 4, 1Copies of these orders have been lodged with this Court previously. 4 2002, to file any pleadings in that Court, after which time no such filings would be allowed absent extraordinary circumstances. No pleadings were filed, and the Circuit Court issued an order cancelling the hearing.

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ABOLISH Archives

July 8, 2002 - FLORIDA

Longtime Death Row Inmate Linroy Bottoson Set for Execution

More than 20 years after Eatonville postmistress Catherine Alexander was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed 16 times and crushed to death by a car, her killer faced lethal injection Monday.

Barring last-minute stays, Linroy Bottoson, 63, was to die at 6 p.m. Monday in the death chamber at Florida State Prison in northern Florida.

As he was being prepared for execution, his attorneys went to the Florida Supreme Court to ask if recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings apply in the Sunshine State. Their appeal could have wide-ranging implications for all 371 inmates on Florida's death row. Bottoson's execution would be Florida's 52nd since the death penalty was reinstated in 1979 and the 1st in about 18 months because of a series of appeals from other states to the nation's high court.

Bottoson attorneys asked the court to toss out his conviction based on two recent high court rulings. One, in an Arizona case, said juries and not judges should impose death sentences. In Florida, juries can recommend a death sentence but judges impose it. In the other, the court said retarded convicts should not be executed.

On Sunday, prosecutors asked the court to dismiss both, saying the Arizona ruling should have no affect on Florida and that Bottoson isn't retarded by legal standards. "Florida's capital sentencing statute has not been disturbed, and there is no decision from any court that compels additional scrutiny of it," wrote assistant attorneys general Ken Nunnelley and Doug Squire. The court could set a hearing, stop the execution or let it go forward. If the latter happened, defense attorneys said they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bottoson, black like his victim, was convicted by an all-white jury in 1981 in Orlando, the Orange County seat.

Bottoson was accused of kidnapping Alexander from the post office in the nation's oldest black-founded town while stealing $144 in cash and 37 postal money orders worth $400 each. A search of Bottoson's home turned up 31 of the money orders, the victim's shoes, a torn up postal check, a bloody hunting knife and carbon copies of stolen checks that had been deposited in a bank by Bottoson's wife.

The details of Bottoson's crime were included in a 1996 opinion by the state Supreme Court rejecting an earlier appeal. "He held her captive for three days and at least part of the time confined her in the trunk of his car," the high court wrote. "He then stabbed her 16 times and finally ran over her with his car. He admitted to the murder to more than one person." The car caused her death. Her right and left collarbones and almost every rib was crushed.

Bottoson came within hours of execution in February, then was given a stay while the U.S. Supreme Court considered the other cases.

(source: Associated Press)