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Martinez signs death warrantsTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UPI) -Gov. Bob Martinez has signed death warrants for three killers, including James Card, who figured in the recent, successful campaign to loosen gun control laws.The governor issued death warrants Tuesday for Card, Omar Blanco, and Ernest Charles Downs. Florida State Prison Superintendent Tom Barton scheduled the executions for Sept. 17, beginning at 7 a.m.The warrants are the first for all three men, so defense lawyers say they are confident of winning stays. No inmate has been executed on the first warrant since capital punishment was reinstated in Florida.No executions have occurred in * Florida in over a year and none during the Martinez administration.•* Card was convicted in the 1981 •.knifing death of Janis Franklin, ••cousin of state Hep. Ron Johnson, a ►Header in the fight against gun control.Police say Card robbed the ^Western Union Office in Panama Ci-ty owned by Franklin, taking $1,000. He abducted Franklin and drove her Cto an isolated area about eight miles away. Authorities contended at his Ctrial that Card grabbed Franklin’s -*hair and slit her throat.Johnson, D~Panama City, cited his cousin’s murder during debate last spring on bills wiping out tough local gun control laws around the state.Floridians need the unrestricted ability to purchase firearms to protect themselves from criminals because police can’t do it for them, the legislator argued.Johnson helped pass two bills signed into law by Gov. Bob Martinez and taking effect Oct. 1. The proposals wipe out local ordinances on the sale of handguns and issuing of concealed weapons permits and establish state standards that are weaker than local laws that have been effect in some areas, including south Florida.Blanco was convicted of the 1982 murder of John Ryan, a Dade County man. State records show Ryan was killed after his 14-year-old niece awoke to find Blanco standing in the doorway of her bedroom She screamed, alerting Ryan who got into a struggle with Blanco. Ryan was shot seven times.Downs was convicted of the 1977 murder in Jacksonville of Forrest Harris Jr. Prosecutors contend that Downs and another man accepted a $5,000 contract to murder Harris because Harris had reneged on a drug deal.
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Key West Citizen
Key West, Florida, US
Wed, Aug 19, 1987
Page 3
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USA 08 Jan 2020
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