FLORENCE, Arizona — A federal judge has rejected a request to postpone the planned execution of an Arizona prisoner on Wednesday in what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years.
The decision keeps on track plans to execute Clarence Dixon Wednesday at the state prison in Florence, Arizona, for the 1978 killing of 21-year-old college student Deana Bowdoin.
Dixon appealed the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where arguments were heard Tuesday afternoon.
Dixon’s remaining legal efforts center on his claim that he’s mentally unfit to be executed and that his psychological problems prevent him from understanding why the state wants to end his life.
If the execution is carried out, it would be the first in the state since the death of Joseph Woods by lethal injection.
Woods' death became controversial after the 15-minute execution process was "botched," according to his lawyers. It took nearly two hours for the convicted murderer to die while witnesses say he convulsed and gasped for air.
Arizona approved a second warrant of execution last Tuesday for Frank Atwood.
Atwood was convicted of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl and dumping her body in the desert near Tucson in 1984.
He is scheduled to die on June 8.
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