A clemency board ruled that Arizona’s first execution in nearly seven years should take place as scheduled.
In a 3-1 decision May 8, the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency said that Robert Charles Comer shouldn’t be given a life sentence in lieu of the death penalty and shouldn’t be granted a temporary reprieve.
The board has the option to reconvene and reconsider its decision up until Comer’s scheduled execution by lethal injection on May 22, said Duane Belcher, chairman and executive director of the clemency board.
Olivia Meza, the sole board member to vote for clemency, declined to comment.
The board’s decision is a welcome one for Comer, who didn’t attend the hearing because he wants to die, said Michael Kimerer, Comer’s attorney.
Comer, 50, was convicted in 1988 of robbing and killing an Apache Lake camper and then subjecting a young Chicago couple to a night of terror during a drive through wilderness areas in which he raped the woman several times.
Comer has been fighting to die since 2000, when he asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to end all appeals and allow the execution to proceed. After seven years of court battles and mental competency hearings, the 9th Circuit granted Comer’s request in March. The Arizona Supreme Court issued an execution warrant for him in April.
Representatives from the Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Arizona Capital Representation Project spoke at the clemency hearing against Comer’s execution.
Besides the first-degree murder and armed robbery conviction for the shooting death of camper Larry Pritchard, Comer also was convicted in Maricopa County Superior Court of sexual assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault for the attacks on the female camper and her boyfriend.
Comer’s girlfriend was with him at the time of the crimes and pleaded guilty to kidnapping and testified against Comer. Juneva Willis served nearly six years in prison before her 1994 release.
Arizona hasn’t executed anyone since November 2000, when Tucson resident Donald Miller died of lethal injection for helping to murder an 18-year-old woman after she asked Miller’s friend for child support.
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