Projected execution dates halted for 2 Arizona inmates
July 12, 2021
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PHOENIX (AP) The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday threw out the schedule that would lead to the execution warrants for two death row inmates, delaying the projected dates for their executions.
Prosecutors now will have to do more testing of the state’s lethal injection drug before seeking execution warrants for Clarence Dixon and Frank Atwood.
The two men are the first death row prisoners in Arizona to be eyed for execution since the 2014 death of Joseph Wood, who was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours.
Prosecutors asked the state’s high court late last month to modify the schedules in their bid to get an execution warrant for Dixon after they revealed the shelf life of Arizona’s lethal injection drug was half as long as they previously thought.
Updated: Tuesday, July 13, 2021 - 12:20pm
After the state revised the use-by date of its lethal injection drugs, the Arizona Supreme Court postponed the first potential executions in Arizona in seven years.
On Monday the Supreme Court denied the state attorney general’s request to shorten the execution warrant briefing schedules for Clarence Dixon and Frank Atwood and vacated their briefing schedules.
The ruling comes after the Department of Corrections backtracked on the shelf life of its compounded pentobarbital. At first, a pharmacist working for the state estimated 90 days, then revised the use-by date to 45 days. The state is still awaiting additional testing on the drugs.
Attorneys for death row prisoner Clarence Dixon are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to deny the state’s request to shorten an upcoming briefing schedule. The motion comes after the state admitted the drugs it is planning to use in Dixon’s execution have a shorter shelf life than previously thought.
The Department of Corrections told the state that the compounded pentobarbital it has acquired has to be used within 45 days instead of 90. This would not give the state enough time to request a death warrant for Dixon, have the drugs tested as mandated, and then complete the execution.
So the state requested the Supreme Court truncate the briefing schedule to allow it to proceed with the current timeline, which could lead to Dixon’s execution in October.
Prisoner objects to proposed change in execution briefings
JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press
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FILE -This undated file photo provided by the Arizona Department of Corrections, shows Clarence Dixon, who was sentenced to death in the 1977 killing of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old Arizona State University senior, in Maricopa County. On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, Dixon s lawyer objected to a request to modify the briefing schedule in the state of Arizona s bid to get an execution warrant against her client. (Arizona Department of Corrections via AP, File)AP
PHOENIX (AP) A death row prisoner who could be among the first in Arizona to be executed in almost seven years is opposing a move that would reduce the amount of time he would have respond to the state’s request for his execution warrant.
Prisoner objects to less time to respond in execution 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.