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Just days away from receiving the lethal injection, Michael Bernard Bell, a man convicted of a double murder that took place over 30 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida, has once again raised his voice, not to deny what happened, but to expose that his conviction was built on lies, fear, and police manipulation.
The execution of Bell, scheduled for July 15 at 6:00 p.m. in the Raiford state prison, would be the eighth in Florida this year. However, new testimonies have raised serious doubts about the legitimacy of the process that led him to death row, according to local media such as .
Two key witnesses from the original trial, both incarcerated at the time, have recently confessed that they lied on the stand, coerced by a corrupt detective in exchange for favors and threats.
During a evidentiary hearing held on June 23, the witnesses Henry Edwards and Charles Jones, who previously identified Bell as the perpetrator of the crime, invoked the Fifth Amendment multiple times, refusing to answer out of fear of self-incrimination.
But they had already signed sworn statements days earlier, revealing that detective William Bolena, a key figure in several controversial cases in Jacksonville, instructed them on what to declare.
Edwards stated before the court that he thought what he was doing was for a movie. “I just followed what everyone wanted me to say,” he confessed.
The defense for Bell filed a motion of over 250 pages detailing how Detective Bolena and prosecutor George Bateh pressured witnesses, offered prison incentives, and, in at least one case, threatened with harsher penalties if anyone dared to change their testimony.
The same prosecutor and detective were implicated in another death penalty case in March of this year for similar tactics. Both are now retired; in fact, Bolena has passed away.
Revenge, error, and a justice that hesitates
Michael Bell was convicted for the murder of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith, a couple who were shot dead in 1993 outside a liquor store. Bell was seeking revenge for his brother's death, but he fired at the wrong people.
In a dramatic scene, he fired 12 times at West, and 4 at Smith. The young couple did not survive. Later, he pleaded guilty to three other unrelated murders.
The prosecution insists that his guilt is demonstrated by compelling evidence, including the testimony of his then-partner, Erica Williams, who stated that he planned the revenge and purchased an AK-47 to carry it out.
Bell, according to her, said: “Theo killed his brother, so he killed his, but an innocent girl got hurt, so now the outcome is tied”.
However, during the recent hearing, other witnesses, such as Bell's niece and his ex-girlfriend, recounted psychological pressure, long hours of interrogation, and threats of imprisonment if they did not cooperate with the official narrative.
Florida, record punishment under DeSantis
The execution of Michael Bell would be a milestone for Governor Ron DeSantis, who tied the state record for the most executions in a single year, eight, with half a year still to go. Only two previous governors had reached that number: Bob Graham in 1984 and Rick Scott in 2014.
DeSantis, who has promoted tough-on-crime policies, seems determined to set a new record in an election year, while human rights organizations and activists question the morality and reliability of the death penalty system in Florida.
Less than a month away from the execution, organizations such as Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty have launched an urgent campaign to stop what they consider a "serious injustice."
They argue that Bell's case never received a complete federal review, that it was affected by racial bias, and that the dehumanizing language used during the trial, even by his own defense attorney, unduly influenced a jury that was predominantly white.
He was only 23 years old when the crime occurred. The pain from his brother's death drove him to seek revenge, but he targeted the wrong person. The prosecution had no hesitation in portraying him as someone "who lived by the law of the jungle," and his own lawyer supported that image, stating that Bell "lived in a world different from ours." None of those statements were challenged by either the judge or the defense.
According to the open letter published on the platform Action Network, Bell's execution would be the third this year in Florida without a complete federal review, a situation that activists deem alarming in a state with multiple allegations of judicial malpractice in death penalty cases.
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