Murderer Appeals Death Sentence 13 Later

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A man convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a woman near Disney more than a decade ago dragged the victim's family back to court Monday. John Huggins is appealing his death sentence for the murder of Carla Larson.

The victim's family says Huggins is just playing games in court.

Huggins says he wants to fire his lawyers and he's giving the prison a hard time about coming to court. Huggins' lawyers say he's incompetent to participate in his own defense, but Huggins says he's not.

Carla Larson's family is trying to ignore his antics. With frustration and the solid belief that the court will do the right thing, Larson's widower, Jim, and her parents sat in court Monday to watch what they called convicted murderer John Huggins' "show."

Huggins repeatedly insisted Monday that he is competent and has no plans to cooperate with state experts to prove it.

"I'll save you the time there, judge. I will be refusing to see Dr. Danzinger," Huggins said in court.

Huggins lawyers are trying again to convince Chief Judge Belvin Perry that he's not competent, based on a true-false test he took. Huggins wants to fire his lawyers, so he's denying he's incompetent, but it was just a sideshow.

Huggins' lawyers are calling witnesses this week to try to get his death sentence overturned. They're trying to prove public defender Bob Wesley made mistakes by allowing Huggins to represent himself during his sentencing and by not casting suspicion on others, including Larson's husband, Jim.

"I'm interested. Now it's getting interesting, now it's like a good show to watch," Jim Larson said.

Jim Larson lost his sister to Gainesville serial killer Danny Rolling years earlier. The Larson's daughter Jessica was just a baby when Carla was kidnapped from a Publix parking lot during her lunch hour and found murdered days later. Their daughter is now in the ninth grade.

"He's just doing what he can do. I'm more thinking about what the judge is doing. I'm pleased he's pushing them forward," Larson said.

After this week's 3-day hearing, the judge said he's going to schedule another one to decide whether Huggins' lawyers will get another chance to try to prove he's incompetent, which could bring his case to another screeching halt 13 years after the murder.

WFTV