TAMPA, Fla. — Weeks before execution, a notorious serial killer is appealing to the Florida Supreme Court to stop it.
Bobby Joe Long is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 23 at 6 p.m. That is unless his attorney can convince the Florida Supreme Court to stop it.
The 81-page petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus lists nine grounds for why the court should act in their favor.
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Long's attorney Robert A. Norgard states that Long is mentally ill and executing him would be unconstitutional.
Norgard also said imposing the death penalty on Long is a violation of Long's Fifth Amendment right "to be free from multiple punishments for the same crime which exceed the limits prescribed by the legislative branch of government."
Long was sentenced to death in 1985 after admitting to killing at least 10 women in the Tampa area.
On Monday, a Hillsborough County judge has denied Long's motion to vacate the judgment of conviction and sentence of death Monday afternoon.
His attorneys argued that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment because of his medical condition.
One of Long's survivors, who is now a master deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska in a May 1 interview that she knows Long is now scared for his life, and he should be.
"If he's executed great, justice for me, but mainly for the families who can't be with their loved ones because they were taken too soon and peace," Deputy Lisa Noland said earlier in the month. "And, if he's not executed I'll continue to fight for it. An eye for an eye tooth for a tooth. Yeah, there's forgiveness, OK, but there's also a price to pay for that forgiveness and his time is coming he knows it and ironically he is very scared, and it's about time. If it doesn't happen till 2020 I'm right there beside my victims' families I'm going to hold their hand and walk them through it."
