In an unusual move, an inmate scheduled to be executed this month in the 1998 sexual assault and murder of a Northwest Florida woman has decided not to fight in court.
During an Oct. 1 hearing in Santa Rosa County circuit court, Norman Grim, 65, waived pursuing an attempt to try to prevent the Oct. 28 execution, according to court documents.
“Defendant indicated that his wish was to forego all warrant (legal) proceedings and allow execution to proceed,” Circuit Judge Clifton Drake wrote in an order after the hearing. “Defendant was advised of his right to appeal as well as his right to waive the appeal, and defendant stated, ‘No appeals.’”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sept. 26 signed a death warrant to execute Grim for the murder of Cynthia Chapman, an attorney who was his neighbor in Santa Rosa County. Chapman’s body was found by fishermen in Pensacola Bay.
Grim would be the 15th inmate executed this year in Florida, adding to a record number of executions.
Ordinarily, DeSantis signing the death warrant would have triggered a flurry of legal arguments, with defense attorneys trying to halt the execution. That process starts in circuit court, goes to the Florida Supreme Court, and typically ends at the U.S. Supreme Court.
As an example, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon rejected an appeal by Samuel Smithers, who was executed hours later at Florida State Prison. Smithers went to the U.S. Supreme Court after a Hillsborough County circuit judge and the Florida Supreme Court refused to halt the execution.
After Grim’s death warrant was signed, the Florida Supreme Court established a schedule for the expected legal proceedings. Under that schedule, Grim would have been required to appeal any circuit-court ruling by Friday. No such appeal was filed, according to a court docket.
Inmates also sometimes pursue separate cases in federal court to try to prevent executions. Drake, the Santa Rosa County judge, advised Grim that waiving the state-court proceedings also would likely harm any federal case he might pursue, according to a transcript of the Oct. 1 hearing.
It was not immediately clear on Wednesday how many inmates in the past waived legal cases before they were executed. But as an indication of the unusual nature of Grim’s decision, all 14 of the inmates executed this year pursued appeals.
Before Grim agreed to the waiver, Drake asked a series of questions, including whether he was suffering from a mental illness and whether he was on medication, according to the transcript of the hearing.
“The court placed the defendant under oath, conducted an extensive colloquy and carefully listened to his responses,” Drake wrote in his order. “Defendant was alert, understood the English language, and was not under the influence of anything that would impair his judgment or prevent him from thinking clearly.”