Florida death row inmate William Reaves has asked the Florida Supreme Court to halt his scheduled execution, arguing that procedural failures and lethal injection concerns violate his constitutional rights. Reaves is slated to be put to death by lethal injection on October 20, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. for the 1986 fatal shooting of Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Raczkowski.
In an emergency motion filed Monday, October 5, attorneys from the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel–South Office urged the state’s high court to stay the execution pending an appeal of a circuit court ruling that denied Reaves postconviction relief. Defense attorneys Brittney N. Lacy and Yiitsodirah Final argued that the lower court summarily rejected claims that required a full evidentiary hearing, violating Reaves’ rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Among the claims raised in the motion, defense counsel stated that Reaves was denied access to clemency proceedings because prior counsel failed to facilitate them and because he was blocked from reviewing his own clemency records. The filing also points to Reaves’ substantial hearing impairment, asserting that the state’s lethal injection protocol lacks sufficient consciousness-check procedures and could cause needless suffering if he is not fully unconscious. The attorneys noted that the compressed timeframe of the death warrant leaves inadequate time to resolve these disputed factual issues without a stay…