NATHAN CRABBENew York Times Regional Newspapers| The Ledger
RAIFORD - Danny Rolling is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. today, more than 16 years after he killed five Gainesville college students in a murder rampage that paralyzed the city in fear.
Lawyer Baya Harrison said he expects the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a last-ditch appeal he filed for Rolling challenging the lethal injection process. Harrison said Rolling, 52, was resigned to the fact he was going to die.
"I think that he's depressed, I think he's realistic," Harrison said. "He's accepted what he can't prevent."
Rolling murdered five students over a four-day period as the University of Florida started the fall semester in August 1990. The families of the victims are running an advertisem*nt Thursday in The (Gainesville) Sun, thanking the community for its support.
"We hope you will remember August 1990 and the years that followed without any sense of community shame for what has happened here," the ad reads. "You turned a blemish into a rose."
The execution will take place at Florida State Prison near Raiford, about an hour's drive from Gainesville.
A list of the family members and law enforcement officials who will witness the execution was still being completed late Tuesday. Spencer Mann, who was the Alachua County sheriff's spokesman during the murders and who will be a witness, said he was ready for the execution to finally happen.
"It's a community wound that really needs to see the final bit of healing," said Mann.
Rolling visited with his brother, Kevin, and a Baptist minister from his brother's Longview, Texas, church on Tuesday. Kevin Rolling plans to claim his brother's body after the execution and will likely do the same with his prison possessions, according to Florida Department of Corrections officials.
If the execution goes as planned, Rolling's body will first be transported to the Alachua County Medical Examiner's Office in Gainesville for an autopsy.Archer Funeral Home in Lake Butler will be handling the funeral arrangements, but isn't publicly disclosing those plans.
Corrections officials say crowds outside the prison could be similar to serial killer Ted Bundy's 1989 execution, which drew a cheering group of more than 100 people. Department spokesman Robby Cunningham said people were free to protest but couldn't brings coolers or chairs.
"If they want to come to stand, they can stand, but nothing unusual," he said.
Television crews from across the state arrived Tuesday in the field across from the prison. Some stations aired specials on the murders and others planned live broadcasts this morning and this afternoon from the site.
Rolling's brother and minister are scheduled to visit again today from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Physical contact is allowed during the last hour of the visit, according to department policy.
Rolling will then be served his last meal, details of which were still being completed Tuesday. Prisoners can request any meal as long it costs $40 or less and the food and nonalcoholic drink are available at the prison, according to Department of Corrections rules.
After the meal, the Rev. Mike Hudspeth is scheduled to spend the afternoon speaking with Rolling through the bars of his cell. Hudspeth, Rolling's designated spiritual advisor, serves as pastor of Kings Temple United Pentecostal Church in Rolling's hometown of Shreveport, La.
A member of the execution team will explain the lethal injection procedure to Rolling two hours before the execution. Rolling also will be offered an anti-anxiety drug.
In an emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Rolling claimed the lethal injection process is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. The court has rejected similar arguments in the waning hours before the state's previous two executions.
Thirty minutes before the execution, Rolling will be brought from his cell to the execution chamber. He will be strapped to a gurney, attached to two heart monitors and connected to an intravenous tube.
A phone line will be opened to the governor to determine if a stay of execution has been issued. If not, the execution will proceed as planned.
At 6 p.m., a brown curtain will be opened on the window separating the viewing room from the execution chamber. Rolling will be given the opportunity to make a final statement to the witness gallery over the public address system.
He can make any statement he wishes but the warden can cut off the microphone if the statement becomes repetitive, according to a prison spokeswoman.
Rolling will then be injected with three drugs: the first is meant to put him to sleep, the second to paralyze his muscles and the third to stop his heart. The executioner will check the heart monitor to determine when he dies and then make a final check of Rolling's body.
Harrison said he will witness the execution out of respect for his client.
Nathan Crabbe writes for The Gainesville Sun.
