PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Friday her office will not seek to execute any death row inmates at this time because she wants Arizona to conduct an independent review of the death penalty.
In a motion to withdraw the execution warrant for Aaron Brian Gunches, the attorney general said Arizona needs to be more transparent regarding how it executes inmates.
"To that end, no further warrants of execution will be sought at this time, and a detailed review of the administration of capital punishment in Arizona will be conducted," the attorney general wrote in the motion.
Gunches, 51, filed a motion last year for the state to move forward with his execution in order to give closure to the family of the man he murdered in 2002. He then changed his mind after Mayes assumed office in January.
Arizona began executing inmates again in 2022 after an eight-year hiatus. The 2014 execution of Joseph Wood reportedly took almost two hours to carry out, resulting in the state temporarily halting executions.
Mayes said "a thorough review" of Arizona's protocols and processes governing capital punishment still needs to be done.
At the same time, Gov. Katie Hobbs has issued an executive order calling for the type of independent review that Mayes is seeking.
The order assigns a commissioner to review Arizona's capital punishment processes and issue a final report to the governor that includes recommendations on improving transparency and accountability.
"Arizona has a history of mismanaged executions that have resulted in serious questions and concerns about ADCRR’s execution protocols and lack of transparency," the governor said in a statement.
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