The Arizona Senate sent a clear message to the state Supreme Court on Feb. 15 by approving a measure that says a self-defense justification law enacted last year is retroactive.
The Senate passed S1302 during floor session. Sponsored by Sen. Linda Gray, R-10, the bill is now up for approval by the full Senate, after which it would go to the House for further deliberations.
Asked earlier the chance of the governor signing her measure, assuming it is approved by both chambers, Gray said she hopes she would.
After all, it received bipartisan support in committee, she pointed out.
“Since the court is confused on what needs to be done, that’s why I introduced the bill to begin with. But now with the Supreme Court decision admitting they didn’t understand what the legislation’s intent is, that is why I’m running it. I think it’s even more important that we have S1302,” she told the Arizona Capitol Times.
Last year, the Legislature passed a law that shifted the burden of proof to the prosecution in a case where the defendant is claiming self-defense.
But on Feb. 9, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the law did not apply to offenses committed before it went into effect.
The law’s target would have been a case involving a retired Tolleson teacher, Harold Arthur Fish, who was convicted in Coconino County Superior Court of second degree murder in the 2004 shooting of Grant Kuenzil in Payson.
Fisher had claimed self-defense, stating that Kuenzil charged him in a threatening manner after the former teacher had shot a dog that he considered a threat during a trail confrontation.
Gray’s bill clarifies that the law applies to all cases pending at the time it was signed into law on April 24, 2006.