The allegation, raised in a hearing before Hillsborough Circuit Judge Daniel Perry, is part of a last-ditch attempt to save Wayne Tompkins from a scheduled execution May 1.

The issue is whether then-Circuit Judge Harry Lee Coe III followed the law when he sentenced Tompkins to death for strangling 15-year-old Lisa DeCarr.

The teenager was found buried under her family's Tampa home in 1984. At the time, Tompkins lived with DeCarr's mother, Barbara, and the victim's two brothers.

Tompkins' attorneys alleged that Coe, the former Hillsborough County state attorney who committed suicide last July after disclosures he was mired in gambling debts, sentenced Tompkins to the electric chair just moments after a jury convicted Tompkins and recommended the death penalty.

Florida law says a judge must weigh all aggravating and mitigating circumstances in a case before handing down a sentence. If the judge decides on a death sentence, he or she must explain the reasons in writing.

After a defendant is convicted and jurors recommend a sentence, judges usually schedule a sentencing hearing so they have adequate time to consider all the facts in the case.

Coe, who got the nickname ``Hangin Harry'' because he often imposed the death penalty, did not do that in Tompkins' case, said Tompkins' attorney Martin McClain.

Another hearing is scheduled on the issue today. If Perry decides Tompkins was sentenced improperly, he could order a new sentencing hearing.

McClain also alleges that then- prosecutor Mike Benito failed to disclose evidence that might have exonerated Tompkins, and failed to question two witnesses whose testimony could have helped his client.

Tampa police searched beneath the DeCarr home in June 1984 after Child Search of Tampa, an agency dedicated to finding missing children, went to the victim's house and found a human bone under it.

Benito told jurors at Tompkins' 1985 trial that Tompkins strangled DeCarr with her bathrobe sash after she rejected his sexual advances.

In the 14 months between DeCarr's disappearance and the discovery of her body, Tompkins was convicted of raping two Pasco County women.

Benito called the rapes ``aggravating circumstances'' and told jurors they should consider that when deliberating on the verdict and sentencing recommendation.

Lyda Longa can be reached at llonga@tampatrib.comor (813) 259-7638.