Nichole Manna

4 days ago | jaxtrib.org | Nichole Manna

Duval County Circuit Judge Jeb Branham denied the motion for relief for a Death Row inmate convicted of the 1993 murder of a husband and wife. Micheal Bell, 54, can appeal the decision to the Florida Supreme Court. He is scheduled to be executed on July 15. If put to death, Bell will be the eighth person executed by the state this year following tonight’s execution of Thomas Gudinas, 51, who was convicted of raping and killing Michelle McGrath outside of an Orlando bar in 1994.

4 days ago | jaxtrib.org | Nichole Manna

On June 16, Henry Edwards signed a detailed affidavit acknowledging that he gave false testimony in a 1995 capital murder case as a favor to a Jacksonville detective – false testimony that put a man on Death Row. On Monday, after prosecutors and a judge told Edwards that recanting his past testimony could lead to criminal charges, he took it all back. It was a day of legal whiplash, witnessed by condemned murderer Michael Bell, wearing a prison jumpsuit, and by his relatives.

1 week ago | jaxtrib.org | Nichole Manna

Attorneys for a man scheduled to be executed in July for a 1993 double homicide claim in a new appeal that two witnesses lied on the witness stand – and that they were induced to do so by a Jacksonville detective with ties to a different controversial case. The legal team representing Michael Bell submitted handwritten affidavits from both witnesses, each saying he was coached to give false testimony by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Detective William Bolena.

2 weeks ago | jaxtrib.org | Nate Monroe |Nichole Manna

The autopsy report examining the death of Charles Faggart is complete, according to State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office, which is investigating the events that led to Faggart’s April 7 hospitalization and the subsequent suspension of nine Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office jail guards. That report’s findings about what ultimately caused Faggart’s controversial death will prove consequential, so the report’s completion is a significant step.

1 month ago | jaxtrib.org | Nichole Manna

The sergeant who was among nine guards suspended by Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters after a Duval County inmate was allegedly brutalized to death in April was reprimanded in 2021 after he pepper sprayed a restrained inmate at close range. That is the second instance of a corrections officer involved in the controversial in-custody death found to have a black mark on their record, according to The Tributary’s review of partial disciplinary histories provided by the agency.