James Aren Duckett v. Florida

James Duckett has been on death row for over thirty-five years for a crime he steadfastly maintains he did not commit. Since he was convicted, Mr. Duckett has amassed a substantial body of evidence refuting his guilt. In 2003, for the first time he had access to DNA testing, however, due to the limitations in technology, no results were obtained. Under warrant, all parties agreed DNA testing here would be probative because identity remains an issue. While Mr. Duckett was permitted to test one piece of evidence, at the State’s insistence, it was tested using testing that could not produce a definitive result. Because the evidence was consumed, Mr. Duckett promptly requested testing of other similar nature evidence. Florida state courts erected arbitrary hurdles to deny Mr. Duckett’s access to DNA testing. Florida statutory procedures for obtaining DNA testing run afoul of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as set forth in this Court’s precedents. This Court has explicitly recognized that capital prisoners have a liberty interest in obtaining DNA testing (see Gutierrez v. Saenz, 606 U.S. 305 (2025); Skinner v. Switzer, 562 U.S. 521 (2011); Dist. Atty’s Office for 3rd Jud. Dist. v. Osborne, 557 U.S. 52, 69 (2009)) and a property interest in not being arbitrarily denied access to state-created investigatory procedures. See Logan v. Zimmerman Brush, 455 U.S. 422 (1982).