Brevard County Man Found Guilty in 1988 Murder Accepts Fate of Execution
TALLAHASSEE – In a surprising turn of events, Death Row inmate James Phillip Barnes, convicted of the heinous rape and murder of a woman in Brevard County back in 1988, has decided against attempting to halt his scheduled execution on August 3rd. Brevard County Circuit Judge Steve Henderson issued an order on June 28th, revealing that Barnes dismissed all postconviction proceedings, a move that is usually associated with attempts to prevent executions through legal means.
In his order, Judge Henderson disclosed that he had engaged in an extensive colloquy with Barnes during a court hearing on June 27th, stating that he found the inmate to not only be competent but also intelligent. Henderson noted that Barnes vehemently expressed his desire to forgo any postconviction proceedings, fully accepting responsibility for his actions and adamantly pursuing his execution without delay. The judge quoted Barnes as saying that he did not want to delay justice and was determined to witness justice being served in his case.
Governor Ron DeSantis had previously signed a death warrant for Barnes on June 22nd, triggering the scheduling of his execution at Florida State Prison. Sensing potential legal battles in the wake of the death warrant, the Florida Supreme Court arranged for briefs to be filed this week. The News Service of Florida procured the circuit judge’s order on Thursday from the Supreme Court, shedding light on Barnes’ unexpected decision.
Barnes was initially sentenced to death for the murder of Patricia “Patsy” Miller in her Melbourne condominium on April 20, 1988. It was only in 2005 that Barnes admitted to committing the murder after DNA testing linked him to the crime. At the time, he was already serving time for the 1997 murder of his wife, Linda Barnes, as confirmed in a 2007 ruling by then-Brevard County Circuit Judge Lisa Davidson.
Judge Davidson’s 37-page decision, which mandated Barnes’ death sentence, provided a chilling account of the murder. According to her findings, Barnes broke into Miller’s condominium through a bedroom window. He proceeded to rape her twice, attempting to strangle her with her bathrobe belt before ultimately bludgeoning her to death with a hammer. In an attempt to conceal the crime, Barnes then set fire to the bed where Miller lay naked and bound. The medical examiner determined her cause of death to be blunt-force trauma to the head.
Commonly, post-conviction proceedings delve into issues such as an inmate’s mental competence or the adequacy of their legal representation. However, Henderson’s order revealed that Barnes had represented himself following his arrest for Miller’s murder. In 2006, he confessed guilt to the crimes through an “open plea” and waived a jury for his sentencing hearing, allowing Judge Davidson to make the determination of whether he deserved the death penalty. The Florida Supreme Court subsequently upheld Barnes’ death sentence and guilty plea.
As the fifth inmate slated for execution in Florida this year, Barnes follows in the wake of Duane Owen, who was executed on June 15th for the 1984 murder of a woman in Palm Beach County. Earlier this year, the state put Darryl Barwick to death on May 3rd for the 1986 murder of a woman in her Panama City apartment. This was followed by the execution of Louis Gaskin on April 12th for the 1989 murders of a couple in Flagler County. Lastly, Donald David Dillbeck was executed on February 23rd for the 1990 murder of a woman during a carjacking in a Tallahassee mall parking lot. Dillbeck was the first person to be executed since Gary Ray Bowles, who was put to death by lethal injection in August 2019 for a 1994 murder in Jacksonville.
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