ARIZONA
NEWS – WINTER 2018 Carole Butcher/Linda Colbourn
(Caretaking)
Hello. Firstly, as you all know, Lindesay has stepped
down as your Coordinator and we would like to thank her for all the hard work
and dedication she has shown to you all since she became your Coordinator in
2015. Carole, who has been your Coordinator before and Linda, who has been the
Ohio Coordinator for many years will be looking after the state of Arizona
until a new Coordinator can be found.
It seems that the general prison population is not
happy with having death row inmates in their midst and this is causing a great
deal of friction.
We bring you good news that Kevin Miles’ death
sentence was vacated and changed to Life without Parole earlier this year. He
was moved off the row in May 2018. We send our best wishes for the future to
Kevin.
Gov.
Doug Ducey said he will obey Arizona law and not Pope Francis who has now
declared that the death penalty is unacceptable in all cases. But the governor
said that, at least for the moment, he doesn't have to make that choice.
The issue arises because the Pope, in the strongest statement ever, said in August
that executions are ‘an attack’ on human dignity. And Francis promised to work
‘with determination’ to abolish capital punishment wherever it still exists. ‘I,
of course, am going to listen to what the pope says,’ Ducey said when asked
about it. The governor is a practicing Catholic. ’At the same time, I took an
oath to uphold the law in Arizona,’ he continued.
’And I'm going to continue to uphold the law.’ (Source: wmicentral.com)
In
mid August the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdicts and death penalty
of Jason E Bush. Justice John Pelander, writing for the court, rejected a
series of arguments presented by attorneys for our friend that he did not get a
fair trial.
Those contentions ranged from the procedures used in the pretrial questioning of
potential jurors to the contention that the jury did not properly consider his mental
illness and troubled past in deciding to sentence him to death. But the court
split on the question of the death penalty with Appellate Judge Lawrence saying
he believes the death penalty violates a state constitutional provision against
cruel and unusual punishment.
Barry
Lee Jones could be freed from death row after a federal judge overturned his
1995 conviction for the murder of a 4-year-old girl.
State prosecutors had until mid-September to re-file charges against him or he
will be released from prison. This is according to a July 31 order from U.S.
District Judge Timothy Burgess that cited poor performance by Jones’ attorneys
and a rush to judgment by investigators. The Arizona Attorney General's Office
filed notice that it plans to appeal.
(Sources:
Tucson.com)
In mid September The Ninth Circuit heard oral
arguments appealing the dismissal of a case that accused the Arizona Department
of Corrections of concealing information about the state's executions; .Arizona's
programs for execution have been under fire for several years. In the wake of
Wood's botched execution, then-Governor Jan Brewer called for a full review of
the process. In a December 2016 settlement, Arizona agreed to never
again use midazolam in a lethal-injection execution. That same month, U.S.
District Judge G. Murray Snow ruled that the press and the public have a First
Amendment right to view executions in their entirety.
(Source: Courthouse News)
We continue to hold all our friends on
the row in our thoughts and we send all of you our warmest greetings for the
festive season.
