Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. After the

execution of Joseph Wood Joseph Rudolph Wood III was an American convicted murderer executed on July 23, 2014, at Florence State Prison in Arizona, with a two-hour lethal injection procedure that was described as "botched". Wood gasped and snorted for an hour and fift ...

in 2014, executions were temporarily suspended but resumed in 2022.

Legal process

When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

and must be unanimous. In case of a

hung jury A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. Hung jury usually results in the case being tried again. ...

during the penalty phase of the trial, a retrial happens before another jury. If the second jury is also deadlocked, a life sentence is issued. The

Governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

can grant clemency only with advice and consent of the five-member Arizona Board of Executive Clemency.

Capital crimes

Certain aggravating circumstances constitute capital murder in the State of Arizona: # prior conviction for which a sentence of life imprisonment or death was imposable; # prior serious offense involving the use of threat or violence; # grave risk of death to others; # procurement of murder by payment or promise of payment; #commission of murder for pecuniary gain; # murder committed in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner; # murder committed while in custody; # multiple homicides; # murder of a victim under 15 years of age or of a victim 70 years of age or older; and # murder of a law enforcement officer.

Executions and death row

The method of execution employed in Arizona is

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

. However, if convicted for a crime committed prior to November 23, 1992, the inmate may choose gas inhalation instead. Arizona's

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

for males is located at the Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. Female death row prisoners are housed at the

Arizona State Prison Complex – Perryville Arizona State Prison Complex – Perryville is one of 13 prison facilities operated by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). ASPC-Perryville is located in Goodyear, Arizona. ASPC-Perryville's Lumley Unit houses the female death row. In ...

in Goodyear. Since

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

was resumed in 1976, 40 people in Arizona were convicted of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

and have been

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

at Florence State Prison in

, Arizona. In October 2019, Arizona's department of corrections paid $1.5m to a confidential source for 1,000 1g vials of pentobarbital sodium salt, a sedative used in the state's executions. U.S. doctors are not permitted to prescribe the drug for executions, as taking a life does not serve a therapeutic purpose, so Arizona has to find suppliers willing to sell drugs without prescription. In 2011, the state was found to be lawfully buying execution drugs from Dream Pharma, a pharmaceutical company operating out of a driving school in west London, UK.

References

External links

Arizona Department of Corrections -- Death Row and Executions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capital Punishment in Arizona Arizona law

Legal process

Capital crimes

Executions and death row

See also

References

External links