The Arizona attorney general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse decisions from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in two death penalty cases.
Barry Jones was convicted of child abuse, sexual assault and felony murder in 1995, but those convictions were thrown out by a federal district court, and that decision was upheld by the 9th Circuit in 2019.
David Ramirez was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1989, but the 9th Circuit remanded his case to the district court to consider his claim of ineffective counsel.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a petition with the Supreme Court in January arguing the 9th Circuit violated federal law by basing the decisions on claims of ineffective counsel.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of the consolidated cases in June.
In a brief to the court, the Arizona attorney general asked the Supreme Court to preserve the death sentence for Ramirez and reinstate the first degree murder conviction of Jones.
