A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that death-row inmate Samuel Lopez may not have received a fair state clemency-board hearing, but he added that he did not have the power to stop Wednesday's scheduled execution.
Judge Joseph Kreamer partially agreed with Lopez's attorneys' challenge of actions by the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, and he set a July 16 hearing on the matter. But the judge added that only the state Supreme Court could halt Lopez's execution.
A July hearing on that case against the clemency board will be moot if Lopez's execution occurs as scheduled. The state Attorney General's Office said it would ask to have the hearing vacated, because there would no longer be a plaintiff with legal standing if Lopez is executed Wednesday.
May 15
Questions about the competency of Gov. Jan Brewer's recent appointees to the state clemency board prompted the Arizona Supreme Court to stay today's scheduled execution of death-row prisoner Samuel Lopez, saying he is entitled to a fair hearing before the board.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2012/05/15/20120515arizona-execution-lopez-appeal-denied.html#ixzz1v35uwQjY
Julie Hall, an attorney for Lopez, argued in state court Monday that her client did not get a fair hearing before the clemency board because its members were not qualified and their appointments did not follow state law. His hearing ended in protest May 7.
Kreamer agreed that Lopez's attorneys had "established a strong likelihood of success" on the claim the state failed to comply with the minimal requirements of the law and that his due-process rights were violated because he was "not afforded a hearing in a substantial sense."
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/05/11/20120511samuel-lopez-judge-doubts-clemency-hearings-fairness-cant-block-execution.html#ixzz1ux0PecJz
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/05/11/20120511samuel-lopez-judge-doubts-clemency-hearings-fairness-cant-block-execution.html#ixzz1uwzuQqgL
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