FLORIDA - The Florida Supreme Court ordered a stay of execution for a man convicted of a triple murder.

Channel Three capitol reporter Whitney Ray explains why.

On January 9, 1981, Paul Johnson shot and killed a Polk County Deputy and two others. He was sentenced to death for the murders, but the Florida Supreme Court is ordering a stay of execution, saying Governor Charlie Crist may have jumped the gun in Johnson's case.

"Crist signed Johnson's death warrant even though the convicted killer hadn't exhausted his appeals, but political pressure was mounting on the governor."

More than 2,200 people signed a petition asking Crist to sign the death certificate. ACLU Attorney Larry Spalding doesn't know why Crist was so eager, but says politics should never taint such dire decisions.

"You shouldn't react on emotional calls to do things. You react rationally and responsible and working within the system."

A system many say is broken. Florida is the only state with capital punishment that allows a jury to hand down the death sentence without a unanimous vote. Three years ago, the American Bar Association recommended changes to the system. Mark Schlakman was one of eight lawyers working on the report. The recommendations have been ignored.

"It is apprehension by elected officials as the possibility of being branded as anything but tough on crime, but these issues don't go to whether one is tough on crime, they go to administration of justice."

More than 20 death row inmates have been exonerated since executions resumed in 1979. In Tallahassee, Whitney Ray, Channel Three News.

Executions also come with a hefty price tag: on average, two death row inmates are executed in Florida every year, at a cost of $51 million to taxpayers.

Life in prison for an inmate entering the system at 20 years old costs an estimated 1.5 million tax dollars.Florida Supreme Court Ordering Stay of Execution for Triple-Murderer