Arizona To Resume Executions
On November 26, 2024, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) dismissed David Duncan, the head of the state Independent Death Penalty Review committee that she appointed in January 2023 to review execution procedures after a series of state killings that Hobbs called “botched.”
But when executions resume, there will be no new method; condemned prisoners will still be killed with a lethal injection, the only procedure authorized by state law. Duncan apparently drew Hobbs’ ire with a comment that execution by firing squad would be more humane than using a lethal injection. She said that was “not the job he was hired to do.”
Hobbs expressed more confidence in a review of execution procedures conducted by Ryan Thornell, the new head of the state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Re-entry (DCRR) that Hobbs hired from the Maine prison system.
“They have thoroughly gone through every procedure and process and updated them,” Hobbs said. “And I’m confident in the process.”
Thornell told state lawmakers in May 2023 that DCRR was “operationally ready” to resume executions—just six weeks after admitting to the state Supreme Court that DCRR staff lacked sufficient expertise to test the state’s stock of lethal drugs for efficacy. As PLN reported, that was after executioners forgot to bring anesthetic for the lethal injection of Murray Hooper, 76, in November 2022; Frank Atwood, 66, had to help another fumbling group of executioners locate a suitable vein for his lethal injection in June 2022; and Clarence Dixon, 66, was killed in May 2022 with a lethal injection of drugs that his attorneys argued were past their expiration date. [See: PLN, Nov. 2023, p.32.]
Those were the killings that Hobbs called “botched,” after another death warrant expired for prisoner Aaron Gunches, and Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) decided not to seek a new one until a review was conducted. However, under Arizona law, Hobbs has little involvement in executing prisoners. It is up to Mayes to request a death warrant from the state Supreme Court, and once granted, the governor cannot then intervene to halt an execution without a recommendation from the state Board of Executive Clemency.
Meanwhile, Mayes has asked the state Supreme Court to issue a new execution warrant for prisoner Aaron Gunches, 53, who was condemned for killing his girlfriend’s ex-husband in 2002. Gunches seconded that request in a handwritten note to the Court on January 3, 2025.
Sources: Arizona Capital Times, CBS News
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login