Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is attempting to bring justice for an Arizona victim but is meeting resistance from the state’s attorney general.
Earlier this month, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced that it had “filed a motion with the Arizona Supreme Court in a move to ultimately seek a warrant of execution for Aaron Brian Gunches.”
— Maricopa County Attorney's Office (@marcoattorney) June 5, 2024
Gunches has been sentenced to death twice over the murder of the ex-husband of his girlfriend in 2002.
“For nearly two years, we’ve seen delay after delay from the governor and the attorney general,” said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. “The commissioner’s report was expected at the end of 2023, but it never arrived. In a letter received by my office three weeks ago, I’m now told the report might be complete in early 2025. For almost 22 years, Ted Price’s family has been waiting for justice and closure. They’re not willing to wait any longer and neither am I.”
Attorney General Mayes pushed back against Mitchell’s legal effort, writing, “Only the Attorney General is authorized to seek warrants of execution. Despite what rogue Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell may believe, there is only one Attorney General at a time – and the voters decided who that was 18 months ago. Just three weeks ago, I notified County Attorney Mitchell about my plans for seeking warrants of execution a little over six months from now after the completion of the independent death penalty review. But apparently, conducting this cynical performance to look tough in her competitive re-election primary is more important to the County Attorney than following the law.”
Mayes added, “Make no mistake, I will vigorously defend the authority of this office – and will not stand by as the Maricopa County Attorney attempts to create chaos to save her political career. My office will next move to strike this motion and prevent County Attorney Mitchell from continuing her unauthorized actions related to the death penalty.”
Mitchell disagreed with Mayes’ assessment of her legal limitations in this matter. She said, “I believe that as an attorney who acts on behalf of the state, I also can appropriately ask the Supreme Court for a death warrant. The victims have asserted their rights to finality and seek this office’s assistance in protecting their constitutional rights to a prompt and final conclusion to this case.”
The saga over Gunches execution started in late-2022, when former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the Arizona Supreme Court for a warrant of execution. After the January 2, 2023, transition of power to Katie Hobbs and new Attorney General Kris Mayes, the state desperately attempted to reverse the actions that set Gunches’ execution process into motion. These efforts proved to be unsuccessful, however, when the high court did, in fact, grant the warrant of execution, ordering the state to put Gunches to death on April 6, 2023. The governor refused to comply with the court-issued warrant, stating that the State would not be seeking to carry out the execution at this time. Hobbs’ decision triggered court filings from Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and Republican leaders in the Arizona Legislature.
The Arizona Supreme Court declined to force the State of Arizona to carry out the issued warrant for Gunches but would not withdraw it either. The warrant expired last year, leading to County Attorney Mitchell’s attempt to seek this action before the state’s high court.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs’ propensity for politically motivated decisions continues to lead to drawn-out fights with the Republican-led Legislature.
On Wednesday, Republican legislative leaders, Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma, filed an amicus brief with the Arizona Supreme Court over the governor’s controversial action to halt the execution of Aaron Brian Gunches.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: President @votewarren Fights Back Against Governor's Opposition in Providing Crime Victim's Family with Justice ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/a2VIGIdIKm
A press release from the State Senate Republican Caucus stated that “the legislative leaders filed an amicus brief with the Arizona Supreme Court to support the victim’s sister, who submitted a petition for special action last week asking the court to direct the Governor to carry out the warrant issued earlier in the month to execute Gunches.”
In announcing his filing with the state’s high court, President Petersen said, “Right now, victims’ rights protected under the Arizona Constitution are being threatened by the Governor and the Attorney General. It’s incredibly disturbing to see them unwilling to enforce the law and are siding with the most vile individuals convicted of carrying out the most heinous crimes in our state. Furthermore, the Executive Branch is clearly undermining the very foundation of separation of powers by attempting to override the statutory process adopted by the Legislature and affirmed by the Judiciary. This is a dangerous precedent to set by our newly elected Governor.”
The Senate President and the House Speaker argue that “the Governor’s unilateral executive decision threatens bedrock principles of separation of powers by usurping the statutory process established by the Legislature and affirmed by the Judiciary,” that “the decision willfully defies this Court’s mandatory order – signaling to all Arizonans that the Governor is not subject to this Court’s jurisdiction and is, in fact, above the law,” that “the Governor has effectively provided a reprieve of Gunches; death sentence without complying with the statutory limitations on her limited clemency power,” and that “the Governor’s action violates Arizona’s Victim’s Bill of Rights, stripping the victim, Ted Price’s sister, of any finality in this decades-old murder case.”
Senate President Pro Tempore, T.J. Shope, signaled his approval of the court filing, writing, “I agree 100% with President Warren Petersen on this. If we are truly caring less about the victim and their family than the criminal, we are in for years of pain and high crime.”
Petersen and Toma conclude their filing with the following plea for the Arizona Supreme Court to force the state to execute the condemned murderer: “Absent clear and specific delegation of authority from the Legislature or the Judiciary, the Executive cannot rule by fiat and choose which statutes or court orders to follow. The Governor’s actions here set a dangerous precedent, opening a Pandora’s Box and inviting litigation every time she disagrees with a jury’s verdict, a court order, or other statutory mandates passed by the Legislature.”
The saga over Gunches execution started in late-2022, when former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the Arizona Supreme Court for a warrant of execution. After the January 2 transition of power to Katie Hobbs and new Attorney General Kris Mayes, the state desperately attempted to reverse the actions that set Gunches’ execution process into motion. These efforts proved to be unsuccessful, however, when the high court did, in fact, grant the warrant of execution, ordering the state to put Gunches to death on April 6. The governor refused to comply with the court-issued warrant, stating that the State would not be seeking to carry out the execution at this time. Hobbs’ decision triggered court filings from Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and Petersen and Toma.
The Arizona Supreme Court is expected to take expedient action in this case with a life and a court-imposed date of execution hanging in the balance.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The Maricopa County Attorney would like a word with the Arizona Governor after her decision to disregard the execution order for a condemned man on the state’s death row.
This week, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell filed a writ of mandamus with the Arizona Supreme Court to “ensure Governor Katie Hobbs and Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (ADCRR) director Ryan Thornell adhere to their oaths of office to enforce the death penalty and comply with victims’ constitutional and statutory rights.” The question presented before the state’s high court is whether the Governor and ADCRR Director “are threatening to proceed without legal authority and failing to perform a duty – the lawful execution of Aaron Brian Gunches on April 6, 2023 – as required by law.”
After filing the amicus with the court, Mitchell released the following statement: “As County Attorney, I took an oath to uphold the US Constitution and the constitution and laws of the State of Arizona. These recognize that both the victim and the accused have rights. Our brief recognizes and supports the right of victims to a “prompt and final conclusion of the case.” It also gives the defendant notice of the recent US Supreme Court decision, even though we do not believe it applies in his case. What is not at issue is what the sentence is for his crime.”
The Maricopa County Attorney’s action follows Democrat Governor Hobbs’ earlier announcement that she would not be fulfilling the execution date for Gunches after the Arizona Supreme Court issued an execution warrant for April 6, 2023. The Gunches saga predates to the previous Ducey-Brnovich administrations, which came to an end on January 2, 2023. Former Attorney General Mark Brnovich had requested the warrant of execution for Gunches in December 2022.
In Mitchell’s filing before the court, she highlights a 1915 response from the same judicial body to a warden “who refused to comply with, and carry out, the order and directors of this Court to execute the sentence of death” in State ex rel. Jones v. Sims. The Court wrote: “Of course, it must be understood that men’s opinions and wishes cannot be substituted and made to take the place of the law; that this is a government of laws, and not of men, and that those persons whom the people have chosen to execute the laws must do so, however disagreeable or repugnant to their wishes it may be. It is not a jealousy of our processes that calls forth this expression, but [jealousy] of the law as it exists. The people and their representatives make the laws, and their observation and enforcement is the only sure test of loyalty and certain guaranty of the perpetuity of our government.”
Mitchell argues that “the Governor is bound by the Constitution and statutes to carry out executions after this court issues a warrant,” that “the Arizona Constitution limits the Governor’s exercise of Executive Clemency power,” and that “Governor Hobbs’s unilateral decision to grant a de facto reprieve violates the victim’s constitutional right to a prompt and final conclusion.”
Governor Hobbs’ decision to unilaterally cancel the court-ordered execution of Gunches coincides with her installation of a Death Penalty Independent Review Commissioner to review and provide “transparency into the ADCRR lethal injection drug and gas chamber chemical procurement process, execution protocols, and staffing considerations including training experience.” The Maricopa County Attorney’s brief contends that “this Court further found that Governor Hobbs’ Commissioner review, by itself, ‘does not demonstrate the State’s inability to lawfully carry out the execution.’”
Earlier this month, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen expressed extreme displeasure with Governor Hobbs’ controversial decision to withhold justice in this case. Petersen provided the following quote to AZ Free News when asked for a reaction to Maricopa County Attorney Mitchell’s recent filing in court: “I applaud the County Attorney for supporting justice and victims. The Senate and House will be writing an Amicus brief in favor of justice as well. It is disturbing to see that our current Governor and Attorney General are unwilling to enforce the law and siding with the most vile individuals of society.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs is delaying justice for the victims of a convicted killer, and the State Senate President is furious with her calculation to ignore a recent execution warrant issued by the Arizona Supreme Court.
Last week, the state’s top court issued an execution warrant for a convicted murderer, Aaron Gunches, who was first sentenced to death in 2008 for the killing of Ted Price in 2002. Following an early-December 2022 request from then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich for a warrant of execution, the Arizona Supreme Court finally set an April 6 execution date – even in the face of tremendous opposition from Arizona’s new governor and attorney general.
After receiving the order from the state’s high court, Hobbs issued a lengthy statement, announcing that she would not be fulfilling the execution date for Gunches and justifying her decision. The governor wrote: “Yesterday, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a warrant of execution for Aaron Brian Gunches, despite the State withdrawing its motion and informing the Court that the State does not seek to carry out an execution at this time….the State and ADCRR (Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation & Reentry) does not intend to proceed with an execution on April 6, 2023.”
Arizona’s Senate President, Warren Petersen, was outraged by the governor’s decree, tweeting, “He should absolutely be executed! Imagine if a Republican governor refused to carry out this order made by the court!”
He should absolutely be executed! Imagine if a Republican governor refused to carry out this order made by the court! https://t.co/zhsT5Q3Mlb
Governor Hobbs’ decision to halt Gunches’ execution comes after a chaotic change in policy from the Governor’s and Attorney General’s Offices following the transition of power on January 2, 2023. On January 20, Hobbs established a Death Penalty Independent Review Commissioner, tasking this individual to review and provide “transparency into the ADCRR lethal injection drug and gas chamber chemical procurement process, execution protocols, and staffing considerations including training and experience.” Hobbs stated then that “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’s rollout of this executive order included cooperation from newly installed Attorney General Kris Mayes, who announced that day that her office “filed a motion to withdraw the warrant of execution for Aaron Brian Gunches.” She announced that her office would “also pause all requests for warrants of execution while the review process (that Hobbs was implementing) is pending.”
Earlier today, my office filed a motion to withdraw the warrant of execution for Aaron Brian Gunches. Given the horrific nature of Mr. Gunches’ crimes, this was an extremely difficult decision to make.
— Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) January 20, 2023
Mayes did acknowledge the family members of the murdered victim who were caught in the middle of the political posturing, tweeting, “My heart goes out to the family of Ted Price. I know this must be an unimaginable situation for them. Families of victims of those on death row deserve sympathy and support from all of us, and I extend mine to Mr. Price’s family today.”
On February 24, Governor Hobbs announced the appointment of retired Judge David Duncan as the Commissioner she previously promised – again repeating her claim about Arizona’s history of “mismanaged executions” despite the past three executions under former Attorney General Brnovich and former Governor Doug Ducey occurring as planned. Also, as with her January 20th statement, the governor expressed confidence in her choice to lead the ADCRR, Ryan Thornell, who was nominated on January 17. Thornell was selected from his role as the Deputy Commissioner of Corrections for the Maine Department of Corrections.
Governor Hobbs gave Thornell another endorsement in her most-recent statement announcing that she would not be going forward with Gunches’ execution, saying, “Director Thornell will continue to build up ADCRR’s staffing and competencies to be able to conduct an execution in compliance with state and federal laws, and will balance that work with the work needed to solve the urgent medical, mental health, and other critical problems the Director has inherited from the prior administration.”
According to Senate sources, though, Thornell’s nomination has not been transmitted to the Arizona Legislature for consent as is constitutionally required. Once the Governor’s Office complies with the Arizona Constitution, Thornell would face a rigorous vetting process by the panel commissioned by President Petersen and chaired by Senator Jake Hoffman. With two – and possibly three – of Hobbs’ original choices to run state agencies already derailed by a lack of vetting from her office, Thornell’s journey – and the stability of the agency he has been tasked to run – faces significant question marks as the governor’s administration hits its third month of operation.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
