Without offering an apology, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday, she should not have requested a postponement of the execution of convicted killer Marshall Lee Gore, scheduled to die by lethal injection today.
Gov. Rick Scott agreed to the request made by Bondi, who has a campaign event scheduled for Tuesday night. According to news reports, Scott said Monday, he changed the date of the execution to October 1, but was not aware that it conflicted with a fundraising event of Bondi’s in Tampa.
Shortly after Scott was questioned about the delay, Bondi issued the following statement:
“As a prosecutor, there was nothing more important than seeing justice done, especially when it came to the unconscionable act of murder,” Bondi said. “I personally put two people on death row and, as Attorney General, have already participated in eight executions since I took office, a role I take very seriously.
“The planned execution of Marshall Lee Gore had already been stayed twice by the courts, and we should not have requested that the date of the execution be moved,” she said.
Scott didn’t say whether he would have delayed the execution, if he did know that it was so Bondi could attend the fundraiser, according to reports.
Gore, a former escort service owner, who was convicted in the killing of two Florida women in 1988, has had his execution stayed twice before.
