Lacking drugs, DOC tells judge Arizona can no longer carry out the death penalty
The Arizona Department of Corrections told a federal judge today the state cannot conduct executions because most of the supplies of drugs for lethal injection have dried up.
Ruling keeps in play a temporary ban on Arizona executions
A ruling by a federal judge Wednesday night kept in play a temporary ban on executions in Arizona, but it also allows condemned prisoners to press forward with a lawsuit protesting the way the state has carried out the death penalty.
Court OKs drug use in executions, but lawyer says that could change
Although the U.S. Supreme Court on June 20 approved the use of the sedative midazolam in executions, an attorney for Arizona death-row prisoners said the issue of whether use of the drug is constitutional isn’t completely settled.
Judge grants stay on Arizona execution suit
It could be months before Arizona officials seek execution warrants for death-row inmates after a judge granted a joint request by the state and defense attorneys.
Report on Wood execution due by mid-November
An independent investigation of the nearly two-hour execution of an Arizona death row inmate is expected to be completed in the next two weeks, attorneys representing the state said Wednesday.
News groups seek lethal injection information
Several news organizations have filed a lawsuit against Arizona that says the public has a First Amendment right to information about its execution protocols.
Journalists’ group joins lawsuit in controversial execution case
An out-of-state law firm is representing an Arizona First Amendment advocacy group that hopes to convince a federal judge that the state’s execution procedures are unconstitutional and the state should be required to provide information on the prolonged execution of an Arizona inmate.
State chooses California company to conduct review of botched execution
The Arizona Department of Corrections has chosen a California company that specializes in planning and designing prisons to conduct a review of the July 23, two-hour execution of Joseph Wood.
Wood given 15 doses of lethal drugs during two-hour execution in Arizona
An execution team violated state execution policy by injecting Joseph Wood with 15 doses of a lethal drug combination, the inmate’s attorney said.
Doctor says Wood may have sensed he was suffocating
Seven times in two hours a masked medical doctor stood over inmate Joseph Wood with his back to the execution witnesses. The unknown doctor was touching Wood’s eye with a cotton swab and sticking a tongue depressor down his throat to look for reactions that come with consciousness.
Autopsy doctor finds nothing out of the ordinary in inmate’s execution
The doctor who did the autopsy on executed inmate Joseph Wood said today he found nothing out of the ordinary for an execution during the examination.
AP reporter’s account of Arizona execution
Joseph Rudolph Wood looked around the death chamber and glanced at the people making preparation for his execution, locating the proper veins and inserting two lines into his arms.