Frank Atwood (left) and Clarence Dixon.
The Arizona Supreme Court has set timetables for the state to make its case for conducting the first executions in seven years.
The court granted requests from Attorney General Mark Brnovich to set briefing schedules for pursuing warrants of execution for prisoners Frank Atwood and Clarence Dixon.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Dale Baich, an attorney for Dixon, requested the Supreme Court postpone the ruling on the attorney general’s request for an execution timetable until the fall.
In their recent orders, the Supreme Court denied those requests.
After the attorney general files the motions seeking the warrants, responses from defense attorneys and replies to those responses will be due to the court by Aug. 11 for Atwood and Sept. 2 for Dixon.
Prisoner disputes shelf life of Arizona’s execution drug
An Arizona death row prisoner, who would be among the state’s first executions in almost seven years, has filed documents arguing the lethal injection drug to be used would expire sooner than prosecutors maintain and that makes it impossible to carry out his execution.
In a filing Wednesday, attorneys for Frank Atwood asked the Arizona Supreme Court to order a lower court to hold a hearing over the state’s claim that the pentobarbital to be used in their client’s execution would expire 90 days after the chemical powder is compounded into an injectable fluid. His lawyers contend the drug is unusable 45 days after it’s compounded.
Prisoner disputes shelf life of Arizona s execution drug sfgate.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfgate.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX Pima County s top prosecutor is seeking a delay in the bid by Attorney General Mark Brnovich to set an execution date for Frank Jarvis Atwood.
But in a spat that is pointing up a divergence of views on capital punishment, he is spurning her request.
In a letter to Brnovich obtained by Capitol Media Services, Laura Conover said that since taking office in January she is reviewing a number of cases, including those on death row, because of an unfortunate history of the department she said led to several disbarments and appellate cases born out of prosecutorial misconduct.
Prisoners seek postponement in death warrant litigation
JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Presss
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1of5This undated photo provided by the Arizona Department of Corrections shows Clarence Dixon, who was sentenced to death in the 1978 killing of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old Arizona State University senior, in Maricopa County. On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, prosecutors said they have told the Arizona Supreme Court that they intend on soon seeking execution warrants for Dixon and another death-row inmate in what would be the state s first executions in almost seven years. (Arizona Department of Corrections via AP)APShow MoreShow Less
2of5FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Arizona Department of Corrections shows Clarence Dixon, who was sentenced to death in the 1978 killing of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old Arizona State University senior, in Maricopa County, Ariz. Dixon and another death row prisoner have asked the Arizona Supreme Court to hold off