The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a lower court’s denial of a postconviction relief motion for death row inmate Jermaine Foster, rejecting claims that a key co-defendant’s testimony was coerced by state officials.

Background of the Case

Foster was convicted in 1994 of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, and four counts of kidnapping. According to court records, Foster and three co-defendants—Leondra Henderson, Gerard Booker, and Alf Catholic—staged a series of robberies to recover Booker’s gambling losses.

During the incident, the group forced a car carrying four people off the road into a vacant field. Foster then shot Anthony Faiella, Michael Rentas, and Anthony Clifton. Clifton and Faiella died from their injuries, while Rentas survived. The fourth passenger, Tammy George, was not shot.

Appeal and Ruling

In his latest appeal, Foster argued that his constitutional rights were violated because the state knowingly presented false testimony from Henderson. Foster claimed that Henderson had since recanted his original statement that Foster planned to kill the victims if they did not have money.

The Supreme Court deferred to the circuit court’s assessment of the witnesses, writing that “resolving any perceived gaps in Henderson’s testimony was part of the postconviction court’s credibility determination—a determination to which we defer given its record support.”

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.