Judge issues written order on DNA issue in Lightbourne death penalty case

In this Dec. 5, 2014 file photo, Ian Lightbourne arrives in Judge Robert Hodges' courtroom for a hearing under heavy guard by corrections officers Sgt. Ray Piotti, top left, Cpl. Tunisa Gordon, center and Cpl. Clifton Barrentine.

The judge presiding over a decades-old death penalty case where DNA has become a point of contention between both sides has issued a written order that strikes down an argument made by the defense against DNA collection.

On Dec. 5, attorneys for Ian Lightbourne, 55, filed into court arguing that the state's request to take a new DNA sample from their client should be thrown out because the trial court, which is being asked to rule on the DNA matter, no longer has jurisdiction over the case. Therefore, the defense argued, Circuit Judge Robert Hodges has no authority to allow for the DNA collection.

During the hearing, the defense presented legal precedent that stated when defendants are sentenced to a life prison term the trial court no longer has jurisdiction because the sentence is an indeterminate amount of time.

Lightbourne was sentenced to death in 1981 by former Circuit Judge William Swigert. Prosecutors presented trial evidence that Lightbourne raped and fatally shot Nancy O'Farrell, 41, in her southeast Ocala home earlier that year.

Assistant State Attorney Rock Hooker told Hodges during the December hearing that the state knows that when the governor signs Lightbourne's death warrant, the state will be required to then preform any DNA testing necessary before an execution can occur. The state is trying to be efficient and get the ball rolling, Hooker said. The state already tested the rape kit and found a male profile, which they hope to compare to Lightbourne's DNA.

At the end of that hearing, Hodges granted the state's motion to collect the DNA but ruled that the collection could not occur just yet, allowing for the defense to appeal his decision.

Now, in a recently issued written order detailing his verbal ruling, Hodges refutes the defense's claim he no longer has jurisdiction over the case. He details in the order continuous litigation in the case, which has been ongoing since 2011.

"Due to the ongoing litigation, the court finds that it retains jurisdiction in this case to rule on the state's motion," Hodges wrote. "The defendant in this case has engaged in ongoing discovery and litigation regarding his sentence and the state's efforts to carry out that sentence."

Hodges noted that Florida law allows for defendants to ask a judge post-sentencing to examine physical evidence for DNA. While no state law exists to clarify whether or not the state has a right to ask for such testing, no Florida law bars prosecutors from conducting the testing, according to Hodges.

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Judge issues written order on DNA issue in Lightbourne death penalty case