Entries tagged with “Aaron Gunches”

Methods of Execution

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Feb 03, 2025

Fired Federal Judge Raises Serious Concerns About Arizona’s Lethal Injection Protocol

Retired fed­er­al mag­is­trate Judge David Duncan, who was hired and then abrupt­ly fired by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to review the state’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­col, con­tin­ues to raise sig­nif­i­cant con­cerns about the state’s lethal injec­tion pro­to­col. In an inter­view with ABC15, Judge Duncan high­light­ed issues with the chain of com­mand for lethal injec­tion drugs, trans­paren­cy, and the state doc­u­men­ta­tion process.​“It’s shock­ing irony that one of my tasks was…

Botched Executions

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Upcoming Executions

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Jan 07, 2025

Aaron Gunches Asks for February Execution Date, Raising New Concerns About Arizona’s Lethal Injection Protocol and the Execution of ​“Volunteers”

No jury has ever learned about Aaron Gunches’ life his­to­ry and expe­ri­ences, noth­ing about his child­hood, men­tal and phys­i­cal health, or trau­ma — the mit­i­ga­tion evi­dence that the Supreme Court has said is essen­tial to a con­sti­tu­tion­al death sen­tence. Arizona courts judged Mr. Gunches com­pe­tent to rep­re­sent him­self in two sep­a­rate tri­als for the mur­der of his ex-girlfriend’s hus­band, and he pre­sent­ed no defense in either pro­ceed­ing. Jurors twice sentenced him…

Dec 02, 2024

Arizona Attorney General Announces State Ready to Resume Executions as Governor Hobbs Abruptly Ends Independent Review of Execution Protocols

On November 26, 2024, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced her office will resume seek­ing exe­cu­tion war­rants. AG Mayes’ announce­ment comes after Governor Katie Hobbs end­ed the state’s inde­pen­dent review of its exe­cu­tion pro­to­col and process­es, dis­miss­ing retired fed­er­al mag­is­trate David Duncan before he had com­plet­ed his review. In a let­ter to Judge Duncan, Gov. Hobbs said his actions dur­ing the review went beyond his man­date. The review was launched in 2023, as new­ly elected Gov.

Executions

Botched Executions

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Jan 23, 2023

Botched Executions Prompt New Arizona Governor and Attorney General to Halt Executions Pending Independent Review of State’s Execution Process

Executions in Arizona are effec­tive­ly on hold after Governor Katie Hobbs (pic­tured) ordered a review of the state’s exe­cu­tion process fol­low­ing three botched exe­cu­tions in 2022 and Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a motion to with­draw the state’s only pend­ing request for a death war­rant. The two state offi­cials, elect­ed in the November midterm elec­tions against oppo­nents who false­ly claimed the 2020 Presidential elec­tion had been stolen,…