Gov. Katie Hobbs on Dec. 9 defended her decision to ignore the recommendations of her hand-picked expert and resume executions in Arizona.
Hobbs last week dismissed retired federal magistrate David Duncan, who she hired last year after she said there had been a series of "botched executions" in Arizona.
Duncan concluded it was impossible to humanely kill those on death row by lethal injection, the only method currently authorized under the Arizona Constitution.
Hobbs said she appreciated Duncan’s work, but also accused him of getting into issues beyond the scope of the study she ordered.
“It became clear in the process that he was just not up to the task. And just one example of that was he started saying that we should execute people by firing squad. And that is clearly unconstitutional , not the job he was hired to do," Hobbs said.
An expert from ASU’s school of law says Hobbs was misinterpreting Duncan’s report, which brought up a firing squad as a way to compare how problematic lethal injections can be.
Attorney General Kris Mayes has already filed paperwork seeking a warrant of execution for death row inmate Aaron Gunches.
