Arizona

Judge rejects Arizona prisoner’s bid to delay execution

Published

3 years ago

June 5, 2022

Judge rejects Arizona prisoner’s bid to delay execution

PHOENIX — A federal choose has denied an Arizona prisoner’s bid to delay his execution within the 1984 killing of an 8-year-old woman, in response to the ruling posted Sunday.

U.S. District Decide Michael Liburdi’s choice retains on observe Wednesday’s scheduled execution of Frank Atwood, who argued the state’s demise penalty procedures would violate his constitutional proper towards merciless and weird punishment by subjecting him to unimaginable ache.

His legal professionals mentioned Atwood, who has a degenerative spinal situation that has left him in a wheelchair, would bear excruciating struggling if he have been strapped to a gurney whereas mendacity on his again throughout his deadly injection execution.

Liburdi mentioned within the ruling made Saturday that he wouldn’t block the execution primarily based on Atwood’s declare, noting that the state will present Atwood with a medical wedge that can relieve strain on his backbone and may tilt the execution desk. He mentioned these lodging “will decrease the ache Plaintiff experiences when he lies on his again.”

The structure, Liburdi wrote, “doesn’t require a pain-free execution,” and that Atwood’s place might be just like what he usually assumes in his cell to restrict ache.

Liburdi additionally rejected challenges to the drug the state plans to make use of and dismissed Atwood’s declare over the Arizona’s use of the fuel chamber, saying it was irrelevant as a result of he might be executed utilizing deadly injection.

Atwood’s legal professional instantly filed an enchantment to the ninth U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals, asking for his execution to be delayed. They argued that whereas he has the flexibility to decide on between deadly injection and deadly fuel, that selection is admittedly no selection in any respect.

That’s as a result of the state’s use of cyanide fuel would additionally trigger excruciating ache, leaving him to decide on between two “torturous” executions strategies. And, they are saying, he’s not allowed to problem the usage of cyanide except he chooses that technique.

Atwood was convicted of homicide within the 1984 killing of Vicki Hoskinson.

Authorities have mentioned Atwood kidnapped Hoskinson, whose stays have been found within the desert northwest of Tucson almost seven months after her disappearance. Consultants couldn’t decide the reason for demise from the stays that have been discovered, in response to court docket data.

Atwood maintains that he’s harmless of the crimes.

Till final month, Arizona went nearly eight years with out finishing up an execution. The hiatus has been attributed to the issue of securing deadly injection medicine as producers refuse to provide them and to issues encountered throughout the July 2014 execution of Joseph Wooden, who was given 15 doses of a two-drug mixture over almost two hours. Wooden snorted repeatedly and gasped earlier than he died. His legal professional mentioned the execution had been botched.

The hiatus ended on Might 11 when the state executed prisoner Clarence Dixon for his homicide conviction within the 1978 killing of Deana Bowdoin, a 21-year-old Arizona State College pupil.

As a part of Atwood’s argument to get his execution delayed, his legal professionals questioned whether or not the compounded pentobarbital for use within the execution meets pharmaceutical requirements and whether or not the state has met a requirement that the drug’s expiration date falls after the execution date.

Prosecutors say Atwood was attempting to indefinitely postpone his execution by way of authorized maneuvers.

Two weeks in the past, Atwood declined to decide on between deadly injection or the fuel chamber, leaving him to be put to demise by deadly injection, the state’s default execution technique.

Arizona, California, Missouri and Wyoming are the one states with decades-old lethal-gas execution legal guidelines nonetheless on the books. Arizona, which carried out the final fuel chamber execution in the USA greater than twenty years in the past, is the one state to nonetheless have a working fuel chamber.

In recent times, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Alabama have handed legal guidelines permitting executions with nitrogen fuel, at the very least in some circumstances, although consultants say it’s by no means been accomplished and no state has established a protocol that will enable it.

Atwood’s legal professionals additionally mentioned Arizona may take up executions by firing squad — a way of execution not used within the state.

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Arizona

Arizona men’s basketball at Texas Tech: Game time, odds, streaming info and more

Published

4 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Arizona men’s basketball at Texas Tech: Game time, odds, streaming info and more

It’s Game Day!

The Arizona Wildcats are back on the road, where they’ve already won twice in Big 12 play, to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This is their first meeting since 2013 and 53rd overall, with Tech holding a 28-24 advantage though the UA has won the last seven matchups.

Here’s all the info you need to watch, listen to or follow the game online:

Arizona-Texas Tech game time, details:

Date: Saturday, Jan. 18, 2024
Time: 12 p.m. MT
Location: United Supermakets Arena; Lubbock, Texas
Line: According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Arizona is a 5.5-point underdog and the over/under is 150.5. KenPom.com gives the UA a 36 percent chance of winning.

How can I watch Arizona-Texas Tech?

Arizona-Texas Tech will be shown on ESPN2. Dave Pasch (play-by-play) and Sean Farnham (analyst) will be calling the game.

How can I stream Arizona-Texas Tech online?

The stream of Arizona-Texas Tech can be streamed at ESPN.com.

How can I listen to Arizona-Texas Tech on the radio?

You can listen to Arizona-Texas Tech on Wildcats Sports Radio 1290 AM.

How can I follow Arizona-Texas Tech?

By following us on Twitter (X) at @AZDesertSwarm and our editor Brian Pedersen (@realBJP).

Arizona-Texas Tech pregame coverage:

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Arizona

SB Nation Reacts: Arizona fans weigh in on CFP title game

Published

12 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

SB Nation Reacts: Arizona fans weigh in on CFP title game

Arizona entered the 2024 season as one of many teams in college football believing it had a shot to make the expanded 12-team playoff despite an offseason of turmoil. Those hopes went away pretty quickly, with the Wildcats going 4-8 under first-year coach Brent Brennan.

To make matters worse, archrival ASU ended up being the Big 12 Conference’s playoff representative, though that did give UA fans a chance to laugh and post some jealousy laden memes after the Sun Devils fell to Texas in overtime in the quarterfinals.

All that’s left in the season is the College Football Playoff title game, set for Monday night in Atlanta between Notre Dame (14-1) and Ohio State (13-2). The Fighting Irish are seeking their first national championship since 1988 while the Buckeyes are going for their first since 2014.

Who do Arizona fans think will win? We asked, and a supermajority picked OSU.

SB Nation

The current line on the game is Ohio State -8.5, per FanDuel Sportsbook, and 40 percent of our voters think the Buckeyes will cover. Nearly that many think Notre Dame will win outright, which pays +290 on the moneyline.

A poll of all SB Nation readers has the most likely outcome being Ohio State wins but doesn’t cover. And as we all know, good teams win but great teams cover … which is another way to say Arizona was far from great in 2024 as in addition to going 4-8 overall it was 2-10 against the spread which was the worst record in FBS.

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Arizona

Efforts to boost FAFSA application rates in Arizona

Published

20 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Efforts to boost FAFSA application rates in Arizona

PHOENIX (AZFamily)—Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Board of Regents are partnering to declare January ‘FAFSA Action Month’ in an effort to boost application rates.

After last week’s technical difficulties and delayed rollout, the Arizona Board of Regents said it prevented many students from applying for financial aid and impacted FAFSA completion rates.

From October 2024 to now, the national FAFSA completion rate sits at 54.4%, according to the National College Attainment Network’s FAFSA Tracker. During the same measured timeframe, Arizona’s FAFSA completion rate was 41.4%, about 13% lower than the national average.

Knowing that last year’s issues created a negative experience for many families, Arizona Board of Regents Director of FAFSA Julia Sainz and the Board of Regents will continue to assure parents that it won’t happen again.

”We’re trying to really elevate the message of FASFA and just letting families and students know that there is support available to help with the application also in support with the governor’s office and we also have an Arizona FASFA coalition that we partner with in order to help eleveate this message,” said Sainz.

After the U.S. Department of Education made multiple improvements and updates to the FAFSA software, Sainz said it has already created a smoother and easier application process for students.

“As of December we’ve already seen a little over 15% of high school seniors have completed the FASFA application. Knowing that there were a lot of technical glitches with the form if we look at that data back in April of last year we were at 18% so knowing that a month of data we’re at 15% is showing really great progress.”

Another way the Board of Regents is trying to boost completion rates is by partnering with the Cactus League to provide complimentary tickets to students who complete their FAFSA application.

The Arizona Board of Regents encourages families to complete FAFSA Applications sooner rather than later to ensure they meet all deadlines.

The federal deadline for FAFSA applications is June 30. However, the board said it’s important to check if the school your student applies to has its own FAFSA deadlines.

All Arizona universities don’t have specific FAFSA deadlines. However, in-state scholarships like the Arizona Promise Program have a priority deadline of April 30.

To learn more about the FAFSA application, click here.

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