Bottoson was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the December 29, 1979, murder of Catherine Willie Alexander. His sentence was affirmed on appeal. The Governor issued a warrant for his execution earlier this year. The execution was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court pending its resolution of an Arizona case in an opinion issued a few months later. Bottoson now argues that the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion has undermined the validity of Florida's death penalty statute, while the State contends it has not.