Arizona to recommence death row executions following a 2-year break.
Attorney General Kris Mayes announced her intention to request an execution warrant for death row inmate Aaron Brian Gunches.
Arizona will restart executions of death row inmates after a two-year hiatus, during which officials assessed the execution process, as stated by Attorney General Kris Mayes on Nov. 27.
Mayes mentioned that her office has collaborated with state corrections officials to enhance and review the execution process in Arizona since the beginning of this year.
The attorney general also confirmed that her office will pursue an execution warrant for death row inmate Aaron Brian Gunches.
Initially scheduled for execution in April 2023, the execution was postponed after Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs identified a lack of qualified staff to administer the lethal injection.
At the time of his scheduled execution, the state also did not have a contract with a pharmacist to produce pentobarbital, a sedative used for executions, according to Hobbs.
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She mentioned that Arizona had experienced problems with mismanaged executions in the past, causing concerns over execution procedures and transparency.
Following Duncan’s appointment, Mayes’s office announced that they would refrain from seeking a court order for the death penalty until the review was completed, with plans to resume executions by early 2025.
This review process ended recently when Hobbs dismissed Duncan, according to several reports.
In a statement, the governor’s spokesperson, Christian Slater, emphasized Hobbs’s commitment to upholding the law while ensuring transparent and humane justice.
‘Irreversible, Morally Fraught Punishment’
According to Slater, corrections officials conducted a comprehensive review of policies and procedures, implementing significant improvements to ensure that state executions comply with legal and constitutional standards.
Arizona has utilized lethal injection for executions since 1993, with intermittent pauses over the years.
Wood’s lawyers claimed that his execution was mishandled.
The extended hiatus was partly due to challenges in acquiring execution drugs.
Three death row inmates, Clarence Dixon, Frank Atwood, and Murray Hooper, were executed by the state in 2022.
The group highlighted severe issues within the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry, including failing infrastructure, understaffing, unskilled personnel, and systemic healthcare failures. They criticized the focus on resuming executions instead of addressing urgent problems and redirecting resources towards solutions that promote real safety and justice while condemning the irreversible and ethically complicated nature of the death penalty.
The Epoch Times reached out to Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Caden Pearson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
