Military Injuries at issue as execution nears
By Jim Saunders - News Service of Florida
April 14, 2025 at 4:01 PM CDT
Focusing on brain damage and mental illness related to his military service, attorneys for Jeffrey Hutchinson have filed additional appeals at the Florida Supreme Court as they try to halt his scheduled May 1 execution in the murder of his girlfriend and her three children in 1998 in Okaloosa County.
Hutchinson’s attorneys filed two appeals, after also filing an appeal last week, with each dealing with different legal and procedural issues. Hutchinson received three death sentences in the shotgun slayings of the children and a life sentence in the murder of his girlfriend, Renee Flaherty.
A petition filed Monday at the Supreme Court argued it would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment to execute Hutchinson because of “profound mental illness and brain damage resulting from his military service.”
Hutchinson, an Army veteran, served in the Gulf War and suffered brain damage from blast-related injuries, according to his attorneys. Also, they say he has a condition known as Gulf War Illness because of exposure to sarin gas, which can result in issues such as mood swings, aggression, anger and rage.
“It is beyond reasonable dispute that petitioner (Hutchinson) suffers from brain damage and neurocognitive deficits,” the petition said. “While petitioner has never conceded guilt, assuming for purposes of this claim that he committed the murders, they were surely the product of his severe delusions and brain damage. … Notably, the conditions and characteristics that led to this tragic crime, moreover, stemmed from petitioner’s military service.”
But the state Attorney General’s Office has urged the Supreme Court to reject the arguments, describing Hutchinson in a Monday document as a “mass murderer of children.”
In a document filed Friday, the Attorney General’s Office also said his “brain dysfunction was known at the time” of his trial in 2001. Also, it said the issue of Gulf War Illness was considered at the time Hutchinson was sentenced.
“That Gulf War Illness had a neurological aspect to it was known at the time of the trial,” the Attorney General’s Office argued. “Additionally, an enhanced version of Gulf War Illness would not result in any of the three death sentences being reduced to a life sentence at a new penalty phase in a case involving the mass murder of three children, all under the age of 10.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 31 signed a death warrant for Hutchinson, who was convicted of murdering Renee Flaherty and her children, Geoffrey, Amanda and Logan Flaherty, in the Crestview home they shared. Hutchinson, now 62, would be the fourth Florida inmate executed this year.
A 2001 sentencing order said Hutchinson and Renee Flaherty had an argument on Sept. 11, 1998, causing Hutchinson to pack his belongings in a pickup truck and leave the home.
After going to an AMVETS bar, where he drank beer, Hutchinson went back to the home and used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill Renee Flaherty, 7-year-old Amanda Flaherty and 4-year-old Logan Flaherty in a master bedroom, Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron wrote in the order. Hutchinson then fired two shots to kill 9-year-old Geoffrey Flaherty, who stood in a doorway of the bedroom.
Hutchinson’s attorneys filed an appeal at the Supreme Court last week after Okaloosa County Circuit Judge Lacey Powell Clark denied a motion to vacate his judgment and sentence. That ruling, which centered on arguments about Hutchinson’s health issues, stemmed from a motion filed Jan. 15.
A second appeal, posted Sunday on the Supreme Court website, came after another ruling by Clark that rejected arguments raised after the death warrant was signed. The Monday appeal was what is known as a petition for writ of habeas corpus. It is unclear when the Supreme Court will rule on the issues.
Hutchinson’s attorneys filed two appeals, after also filing an appeal last week, with each dealing with different legal and procedural issues. Hutchinson received three death sentences in the shotgun slayings of the children and a life sentence in the murder of his girlfriend, Renee Flaherty.
A petition filed Monday at the Supreme Court argued it would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment to execute Hutchinson because of “profound mental illness and brain damage resulting from his military service.”
Hutchinson, an Army veteran, served in the Gulf War and suffered brain damage from blast-related injuries, according to his attorneys. Also, they say he has a condition known as Gulf War Illness because of exposure to sarin gas, which can result in issues such as mood swings, aggression, anger and rage.
“It is beyond reasonable dispute that petitioner (Hutchinson) suffers from brain damage and neurocognitive deficits,” the petition said. “While petitioner has never conceded guilt, assuming for purposes of this claim that he committed the murders, they were surely the product of his severe delusions and brain damage. … Notably, the conditions and characteristics that led to this tragic crime, moreover, stemmed from petitioner’s military service.”
But the state Attorney General’s Office has urged the Supreme Court to reject the arguments, describing Hutchinson in a Monday document as a “mass murderer of children.”
In a document filed Friday, the Attorney General’s Office also said his “brain dysfunction was known at the time” of his trial in 2001. Also, it said the issue of Gulf War Illness was considered at the time Hutchinson was sentenced.
“That Gulf War Illness had a neurological aspect to it was known at the time of the trial,” the Attorney General’s Office argued. “Additionally, an enhanced version of Gulf War Illness would not result in any of the three death sentences being reduced to a life sentence at a new penalty phase in a case involving the mass murder of three children, all under the age of 10.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 31 signed a death warrant for Hutchinson, who was convicted of murdering Renee Flaherty and her children, Geoffrey, Amanda and Logan Flaherty, in the Crestview home they shared. Hutchinson, now 62, would be the fourth Florida inmate executed this year.
A 2001 sentencing order said Hutchinson and Renee Flaherty had an argument on Sept. 11, 1998, causing Hutchinson to pack his belongings in a pickup truck and leave the home.
After going to an AMVETS bar, where he drank beer, Hutchinson went back to the home and used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill Renee Flaherty, 7-year-old Amanda Flaherty and 4-year-old Logan Flaherty in a master bedroom, Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron wrote in the order. Hutchinson then fired two shots to kill 9-year-old Geoffrey Flaherty, who stood in a doorway of the bedroom.
Hutchinson’s attorneys filed an appeal at the Supreme Court last week after Okaloosa County Circuit Judge Lacey Powell Clark denied a motion to vacate his judgment and sentence. That ruling, which centered on arguments about Hutchinson’s health issues, stemmed from a motion filed Jan. 15.
A second appeal, posted Sunday on the Supreme Court website, came after another ruling by Clark that rejected arguments raised after the death warrant was signed. The Monday appeal was what is known as a petition for writ of habeas corpus. It is unclear when the Supreme Court will rule on the issues.