An Arizona death row inmate is asking the state Supreme Court to skip legal formalities and carry out his execution earlier than officials planned.
Aaron Brian Gunches, 53, who had previously pushed for the state to execute him for the 2002 murder of his girlfriend’s ex-husband, Ted Price, has Plea guilty. He will be executed by lethal injection.
Granges’ execution will be Arizona’s first use of the death penalty since a two-year moratorium on reviewing execution procedures.
In handwritten court documents this week, Gonchis (not an attorney but representing himself) urged the state Superior Court to schedule his execution for mid-February.
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Aaron Brian Gunches was convicted of murder in the 2002 slaying of Ted Price in Maricopa County, Arizona. (Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reintegration, AP)
He said his death sentence was “long overdue” and that the state was extending the process to ask the court to provide a timetable for legal briefings before the execution.
The office of Democratic Attorney General Chris Meyers, who is overseeing Gonzez’s execution, said a briefing schedule must be developed to ensure corrections officials meet execution requirements, including testing of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injections.
Two years ago, Gonchis called on the state Supreme Court to issue an execution order on the basis that justice would be served and the families of the victims would receive closure.
The lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, on October 7, 2002. (Associated Press)
Gonzez’s execution was originally scheduled for April 2023, before Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ office said the state was not prepared to carry out the execution because it did not have the staff with the expertise to carry out the death penalty.
Hobbes vowed not to carry out any execution unless he was confident that the state could do so without violating any laws. Hobbs ordered a review that effectively ended in November when she fired the retired federal magistrate judge she appointed to oversee the review.
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FILE: A gurney in the execution chamber of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Sue Ogroki)
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There are 111 people on death row in Arizona, but the last execution was in 2022, when three inmates were executed.
The state has since been criticized for taking too long to administer lethal injections to death row inmates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
