Florida High Court Rejects Chandler Appeal for Stay

Tallahassee, FL (AP) - November 7. 2011 --

The Florida Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court decision to go ahead with next week's scheduled execution of a man convicted of killing a vacationing Ohio mother and her two daughters.

The justices on Monday unanimously upheld a circuit court
decision from Pinellas County that condemns Oba Chandler to death
by lethal injection Nov. 15 at Florida State Prison near Raiford.

The 65-year-old Chandler was convicted of the 1989 murders of
Joan Rogers and her teenage daughters Christe and Michelle, who
were on their way back to their Ohio home after vacationing at
Disney World.

Authorities said the victims stopped to ask Chandler for directions to a Tampa motel when they disappeared. Their bodies were found in Tampa Bay despite having been weighted down with concrete blocks.

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Judge Rejects Condemned Inmate's Appeal

Clearwater, FL (AP) - A state circuit court judge has rejected
an appeal from an inmate scheduled to be executed next month.

Oba Chandler's attorney argued in a hearing Friday that
Chandler's rights were violated at his 1994 trial. The attorney
also said a jury should be seated to again decide whether he should
live or die.

But Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip J. Federico ruled Monday
that the argument by Baya Harrison III was insufficient. A call by
The Associated Press to Harrison's office was not immediately
returned.

The 65-year-old Chandler was convicted in the 1989 murders of
Joan Rogers and her teenage daughters, Michelle and Christe, of
Ohio.

Chandler's execution is schedule for Nov. 15. It's the second
execution ordered by Gov. Rick Scott since he took office in
January.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)