In 1977 a man approached Downs and asked him to accept a contract to murder John Barfield. Downs accepted and, with the aid of Larry Johnson, lured Barfield to a remote location and killed him. In December 1977 he was found guilty and sentenced to death. His sentence was overturned because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1987. At a new sentencing hearing in 1989, the jury recommended the death penalty 8-to-4 and the judge agreed. This sentence was upheld by the Florida Supreme Court in 1990, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied relief in 1991. Downs now challenges the validity of his sentence.