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Aaron Brian Gunches' execution would mark a resumption of
Arizona’s use of the death penalty after a two-year pause while
it reviewed its procedures.
In a handwritten court filing this week, Gunches asked the state
Supreme Court to schedule his execution for mid-February for his
murder conviction in the 2002 killing of Ted Price.
Gunches, who isn’t a lawyer but is representing himself, said
his death sentence is “long overdue” and that the state was
dragging its feet in asking the court for a legal briefing
schedule leading up to the execution.
Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office, which is seeking Gunches’
execution, said a briefing schedule is needed to ensure
corrections officials can meet execution requirements, such as
testing for the pentobarbital that will be used for his lethal
injection.
Two years ago, Gunches asked the Arizona Supreme Court to issue
his execution warrant, saying justice could be served and the
victim’s families could get closure.
Gunches had been set to be put to death in April 2023. But Gov.
Katie Hobbs' office said the state wasn’t prepared to enforce
the death penalty because it lacked staff with expertise to
carry out executions.
Hobbs, a Democrat, had promised not to carry out any executions
until there was confidence the state can do so without violating
any laws. The review Hobbs had ordered effectively ended in
November when she dismissed the retired federal magistrate judge
she had appointed to head the review.
Gunches pleaded guilty to a murder charge in the shooting death
of Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband, near the Phoenix suburb
of Mesa.
Arizona, which has 111 prisoners on death row, last carried out
three executions in 2022 following a nearly eight-year hiatus
brought on by criticism that a 2014 execution was botched and
because of difficulties obtaining drugs for execution.
Since then, the state has been criticized for taking too long to
insert an IV for lethal injection into a condemned prisoner.
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