19 January 2022 :
The Florida Supreme Court has overturned the conviction and death sentence of Joe Simpson.
Simpson, 48, White, was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of Archie "Big Archie" Howard Crook Sr., 38, and his pregnant girlfriend, Kimberli Kimbler, 29, in their home.
The state's high court overturned Simpson's conviction on the grounds that prosecutors withheld information that a witness -- Crook's son, Archie "Little Archie" Clyde Crook Jr. -- was a confidential informant for the state.
According to court documents, Big Archie, Little Archie and Simpson were associates in dealing drugs. Little Archie told investigators he visited his father the night of the slayings, and that when he left, he didn't lock the door behind him. He said his father and Kimbler were alive when he left.
Investigators said that 2 years after the slayings, George Durrance, an associate of the Crooks and Simpson, told police that Simpson confessed to him that he killed Big Archie and Kimbler. Little Archie, meanwhile, had served as a confidential informant against Durrance in an unrelated case.
The Florida Supreme Court said the fact that Little Archie was an informant linked to Durrance should have been disclosed in Simpson's trial.
The Florida Supreme Court sent Simpson's case to a lower court for a new trial.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/01/14/Joe-Simpson-Florida-death-row/5731642187496/