Arizona Department Of Corrections Says It Has Lethal Injection Drugs, Ready To Resume Executions

By Jimmy Jenkins, Steve Goldstein
Published: Friday, March 5, 2021 - 3:06pm
Updated: Tuesday, March 9, 2021 - 12:29pm

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 death chamber
Arizona Department of Corrections
The death chamber at Arizona State Prison Complex - Florence.

The Arizona Department of Corrections says it is ready to resume executions for the first time in nearly seven years. 

Arizona suspended capital punishment in 2014 after the controversial execution of Joseph Wood, which required 15 injections and lasted nearly two hours.

On Friday, Arizona Department of Corrections Director David Shinn sent a letter to the state Attorney General’s Office saying it “stands ready to commence the execution process.”

A spokesperson for the Department said it was in possession of pentobarbital, a drug that has been administered in lethal injections at the state and federal level in recent years.

The Attorney General's Office has been pushing Gov. Doug Ducey for more than a year to resume executions. A spokesman for Ducey said Friday he supports a resumption of the death penalty. The AG's office says there are 20 people on death row in Arizona who have exhausted the appeals process.

The Department of Corrections would not disclose the source of the pentobarbital or any compounding pharmacy that may have produced it.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General said there are 20 death-row inmates who have exhausted appeals in Arizona.

Death-Row Inmates Who Have Exhausted Appeals

Michael Apelt
Frank Atwood
Clarence Dixon
Richard Djerf
Richard Greenway
David Gulbrandson
Aaron Gunches
Charles Hedlund
Richard Hurles
James McKinney
Eric Mann
Ernesto Martinez
Roger Murray
Pete Rogovich
Sean Runningeagle
Eldon Schurz
Roger Scott
Joe Clarence Smith
James Styers
Ronald Williams

KJZZ's The Show spoke with assistant federal public defender Dale Baich for his reaction on the reinstatement of executions.

The Show Arizona Prisons