Court rejects Jones' appeal 03/18/98

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Wednesday, March 18, 1998

Story last updated at 10:50 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, 1998

Court rejects Jones' appeal
Execution set for next week

By Jim Saunders
Times-Union staff writer

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Supreme Court yesterday rejected an appeal by Jacksonville cop killer Leo Jones, moving him a step closer to execution next week.

Justices turned down Jones' argument that he should receive a new trial because of evidence that could implicate another man in the 1981 slaying of Officer Thomas Szafranski. They also rejected Jones' claim that he confessed to the shooting only after being beaten by police.

''Despite his claims that his confession was coerced, Jones admitted that he had not been touched for several hours preceding the confession,'' the majority opinion said. ''Jones was medically evaluated hours before the confession and was found to have only minor injuries.''

Two of the seven justices, however, said Jones should get a new trial because of questions about whether another man, Glenn Schofield, shot Szafranski.

Justice Harry Lee Anstead wrote the case is ''troubling because of the sheer volume of evidence present in the record that another person committed the murder, and, yet, none of this evidence was heard by the jury that tried and convicted Jones.''

Jones is scheduled to be electrocuted Tuesday after a legal battle that has drawn statewide attention. Among other things, Jones unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the electric chair, touching off a debate about whether Florida should change its execution method to lethal injection.

Despite the court's ruling yesterday, the case isn't over: Jones' attorney filed another appeal this week to try to block the execution.

That appeal relies on investigative documents that the Supreme Court ordered authorities to release last week. The attorney, Martin McClain, said the documents help show that Jacksonville police were out to ''get'' Jones.

Richard Martell, chief of capital appeals in the Florida Attorney General's Office, said he didn't think the documents include any new evidence}. The Supreme Court has not indicated when it will rule on the appeal.