OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said this week she plans to ignore a court-ordered execution scheduled for early next month, setting up a legal and state constitutional showdown.
The execution of Aaron Gunches was scheduled over the objections of the state’s new Democratic attorney general, Kris Mayes, “for his murder conviction in a 2002 killing” just “a day after the state Supreme Court said it must grant an execution warrant if certain appellate proceedings have concluded — and that those requirements were met in Gunches’ case,” the Associated Press reported.
Last week, Hobbs designated retired U.S. Magistrate Judge David Duncan to investigate Arizona’s purchase of lethal injection drugs and other procedures related to the death penalty due to some mismanagement of executions by the state in the past.
“Under my administration, an execution will not occur until the people of Arizona can have confidence that the state is not violating the law in carrying out the gravest of penalties,” Hobbs said in a statement Friday.
Mayes’ office added that the AG will not seek court orders to carry out executions until Hobbs’ review is complete, according to the AP.
After taking office in January, Democratic official Mayes attempted to cancel a warrant request by her Republican predecessor, Mark Brnovich, to Gunches. However, the court refused to withdraw the request on Thursday. The court said Hobbs’ review “does not constitute good cause for refraining from issuing the warrant,” according to the AP.
Hobbs claims that the court merely authorized the execution it did not order the state to carry it out.
Dale Baich, a professor of death penalty law at Arizona State University and former federal public defender, explained to the AP that as the state’s chief executive, Hobbs has the power to intervene if the state determines that it is unable to conduct an execution in a manner that complies with constitutional requirements.
“What the governor did is not unique,” Baich, who applauded Hobbs’ decision, told the AP. “Governors in Alabama, Ohio and Tennessee recently used their authority to pause executions because they had serious questions about the protocols in their states.”
Meanwhile, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Gunches, said in a statement that officials there believe Hobbs “has a constitutional and statutory responsibility to carry out all sentences, including the execution of Aaron Gunches.”
The AP noted further:
Arizona, which has 110 prisoners on death row, carried out three executions last year after a nearly eight-year hiatus following criticism that a 2014 execution was botched and because of difficulties obtaining execution drugs.
Since resuming executions, the state has been criticized for taking too long to insert an IV for lethal injection into a prisoner’s body in early May and for denying the Arizona Republic newspaper’s request to witness the last three executions.
Gunches is scheduled to be executed on April 6 for the 2002 killing of Ted Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband, in Maricopa County.
In November, Gunches, who does not have a legal background, appeared in court representing himself and requested that the Supreme Court issue his execution warrant, citing the need for justice to be served and closure for the victims. In the final month of his term, Brnovich’s office requested that the court grant a warrant to execute Gunches, said the AP.
“But Gunches withdrew his request in early January, and Mayes asked for the execution warrant submitted during Brnovich’s tenure to be withdrawn,” the newswire reported.
Hobbs noted in her statement that Arizona’s prison system is plagued with significant issues that demand attention, referencing a critical court decision that determined the state had breached the rights of inmates in state-run prisons by failing to provide sufficient medical and mental health care, said the AP.
Within her first month as Secretary of State, Hobbs formed a commission to investigate a variety of problems in Arizona’s prisons, including staffing shortages, living conditions, and healthcare for inmates, the report noted further.
