one arizona death row Asking the state Supreme Court to skip legal formalities and schedule his execution before officials plan it.
Aaron Brian Gunches, 53, who had previously pushed for the state to execute him for the 2002 murder of his girlfriend’s ex-husband, Ted Price, has Plea guilty. He will be executed by lethal injection.
Granges’ execution will be Arizona’s first use of the death penalty since a two-year moratorium on reviewing execution procedures.
In a handwritten court filing this week, Gonchis (who is not an attorney but represents himself) urged state superior court His execution is scheduled for mid-February.
He said his death sentence was “long overdue” and that the state was prolonging proceedings to ask the court for a timetable for legal briefings before the execution.
The office of Democratic Attorney General Chris Meyers, who is overseeing Gonzez’s execution, said a briefing schedule must be developed to ensure corrections officials meet execution requirements, including testing of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injections.
Two years ago, Gonchis called on the state Supreme Court to issue an execution order on the basis that justice would be served and the families of the victims would receive closure.
Gonzez’s execution was originally scheduled for April 2023, before Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ office said the state was not prepared to carry out the execution because it did not have the staff with the expertise to carry out the death penalty.
Hobbes vowed not to carry out any execution unless he was confident that the state could do so without violating any laws. Hobbs ordered a review that effectively ended in November when she fired the retired federal magistrate judge she appointed to oversee the review.
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Arizona has 111 death row inmates who were eventually executed death sentence Three inmates were executed in 2022 after a nearly eight-year pause over criticism of a failed execution in 2014 and difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs.
The state has since been criticized for taking too long to administer lethal injections to death row inmates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.