It may be nine months before a jury decides whether triple-murderer Paul Beasley Johnson should again be sent to Florida's death row for a 1981 killing spree, according to The Ledger of Lakeland.
Johnson, 63, was convicted in 1988 of shooting to three people to death, including Polk County sheriff's deputy Theron A. Burnham. But in 2010, the Florida Supreme Court vacated the death sentences after an appeal. A new jury must be chosen to recommend whether Johnson should be executed or receive life imprisonment.
Lawyers are scheduled to begin picking jurors on Feb. 11, according to court records. But during a hearing Tuesday, The Ledger said, Assistant Public Defender Peter Mills indicated he might seek to postpone jury selection until April to further prepare the case.
Prosecutors say that on Jan. 8, 1981, Johnson robbed and fatally shot Winter Have tax driver William Evans and set the cab on fire. Johnson later fatally shot Darrell Ray Beasley, a Lakeland man who gave Johnson a ride, and Burnham, the deputy who responded to the scene.
It took three trials before Johnson was convicted and sent to death row.