TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Supreme Court is turning down another set of appeals from a man scheduled to be executed next week.
The court rejected arguments made by attorneys representing William Van Poyck that he should be spared because he was not the triggerman in a 1987 murder. His execution is scheduled for June 12.
In June 1987, Van Poyck and co-defendant Frank Valdes ambushed two guards taking inmate James O'Brien to a doctor's office in West Palm Beach. Corrections officer Fred Griffis died after being shot three times.
Valdes was beaten to death at Florida State Prison in 1999. Last month, his widow said her husband told her he shot the guard.
But in their ruling justices noted that Van Poyck planned the escape attempt and showed up with loaded weapons.
