JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a two-day selection process, a jury has been impaneled for the retrial of Randall Deviney in the 2008 murder of Delores Futrell.
Opening statements will be presented Wednesday morning.
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Deviney was convicted and sentenced to die for killing Futrell (pictured below), who was his neighbor. That conviction was overturned last year by the Flordia Supreme Court, which found that Deviney's confession was coerced by police.
The case has been delayed for months while Deviney's public defender went to the appeals court to be allowed to withdraw because of a conflict of interest. Deviney now has a new, court-appointed lawyer.
A motion to block the prosecution from seeking the death penalty was denied.
Deviney has sent two letters to the State Attorney's Office saying he has information on a cold case involving Donald Smith, the man charged with the 2013 murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle. He asked prosecutors to make a deal in exchange for information about an unrelated, unsolved case involving Smith.
A local defense attorney not affiliated with either case said one would not think Deviney should be given credibility based on his background, but also said he likely has access to people in jail who he is able to get accurate information from.
The State Attorney's Office has said it won't hear any of what Deviney has to say. It released this statement in response to his letters:
"The state's position in the Deviney case has not changed. As previously stated in court, the state has no interest in talking with the defendant about information on another case, and the state believes the defendant is perpetuating a fraud on the court."