Three decades after a Jacksonville man was sentenced to die for killing a teenage drug dealer, the Jacksonville police and prosecutors are facing increasing pressure to produce documents that could undermine the credibility of their key witnesses – and potentially blow up the case.
Category: Cold Blooded
Posted inCold Blooded
Lawyer fighting client’s execution gets new job with agency that wants him dead
Efforts by a Jacksonville man to fight his execution were thrown for a loss when his main lawyer took a new job – with the agency that is fighting his efforts.
Posted inBehind the Story
Florida Trib wins six first-place awards, gold medal in journalism contest
The Trib won first place in every category it entered.
Posted inCold Blooded, Criminal Justice
State began, then halted, probe into murder conviction that relied on a known liar’s testimony
The aborted review demonstrates the limitations of a unit set up to fanfare, the first of its kind in Florida, to seek justice for the wrongly accused
Posted inCold Blooded
The ‘hanging judge’: Legacy of Jim Crow looms over Jacksonville Death Row case
An examination by The Tributary shows that Judge Hudson Olliff possessed retrograde views on race that were an open secret in Jacksonville’s legal community but less understood by the general public.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
‘Cold-Blooded’ wins 2025 Online News Award, recognized for impact
The Tributary today was awarded one of journalism’s most prestigious awards. ‘Cold-Blooded’ won the Online News Association’s feature reporting award, honoring excellence in online journalism that shows depth, insight and new understanding. The series has already been cited in filings to the Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Cops had a choice of witnesses. They used the liar to put a Jacksonville man on Death Row
A cache of records recently obtained by The Tributary paints a vivid portrait of Sidney Jones, who was at once a petty thief, burglar, gunman, and liar, as well as a longtime paid police informant whose controlled buys gave cops probable cause for arrests.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Witnesses say their lies put a man on Death Row. Then they took it back
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.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Witnesses in Duval Death Row case say they were coached by detective to lie
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.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
Death Row attorneys fight state for records in case highlighted by The Tributary
Lawyers for Kenneth Hartley, a Jacksonville Death Row inmate convicted of murder more than 30 years ago on the word of a known liar and three jailhouse snitches, are fighting to pry loose records they hope will undo the case, which was the subject of a recent investigation by The Tributary called ‘Cold-Blooded.’