Once again, Attorney General Pam Bondi apologized for asking Gov. Rick Scott to reschedule a death row execution scheduled for the same night of her Tampa “campaign kickoff” fundraiser.
For the first time since her scheduling request became public, Bondi spoke on the controversy Tuesday with Tallahassee media. She insisted it was a “mistake” to request changing convicted murder Marshall Lee Gore’s execution from Sept. 10 to Oct. 1.
The former Hillsborough county prosecutor, seen as one of the rising stars of the state GOP, added that it “won’t happen again.”
Gov. Rick Scott said earlier that when agreeing to reschedule the execution, he was simply complying with a request from a state Cabinet member. Bondi, currently unchallenged in her 2014 re-election campaign, said her staff was aware of the reason for the request.
Attorneys for Gore, who had two successful efforts to stop the execution based on the accused killer’s sanity, have filed yet another challenge to the rescheduled execution. “We are fighting that,” Bondi said.
Gore, a former escort service owner, was found guilty in 1988 of killing two women in Miami-Dade and Columbia Counties. He faces the death penalty for the March 1988 murder of Robyn Novick, a 30-year-old exotic dancer. Police found Novick’s nude body in a rural area of Miami-Dade.
Asked if she felt the incident hinders her reputation as tough on crime, Bondi again apologized.
“I asked that a killer’s date be changed, and he was given 20 more days, and it won’t happen again,” Bondi said. “I’m sorry.”
