Gov. Katie Hobbs appoints retired judge to review death penalty procedures

Gov. Katie Hobbs has appointed retired Magistrate Judge David Duncan to review the execution process in Arizona, as outlined in her executive order issued in January to establish a Death Penalty Independent Review Commissioner.

“Arizona has a history of mismanaged executions that have resulted in serious concerns about ADCRR’s execution protocols and lack of transparency. That changes now under my administration and Director Thornell," Hobbs said of recently appointed Department of Corrections Director Ryan Thornell. "A comprehensive and independent review must be conducted to ensure these problems are not repeated in future executions. I’m more than confident that Judge Duncan has the expertise and ability to take on this crucial role.”

In a previous statement, Hobbs said the commissioner would be tasked with "reviewing and providing transparency into the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, & Reentry (ADCRR) lethal injection drug and gas chamber chemical procurement process, execution protocols, and staffing considerations including training and experience."

Hobbs said Duncan will issue a final report that includes recommendations on improving the transparency, accountability, and safety of the execution process.

Duncan served 17 years as a federal magistrate judge before his retirement in 2018. During that time he presided over several cases involving the Arizona Department of Corrections, including the ongoing prison health care lawsuit now renamed Jensen v. Thornell to reflect the arrival of a new director. As part of his oversight of the case, Duncan fined the Department $1.4 million for failing to meet court-ordered benchmarks established to improve health care conditions in the prisons.

Before he was a judge, Duncan worked on capital cases and served as an assistant United States attorney.

"I will conduct an investigation, learn and understand as much as possible, and provide that information to the governor and the citizens of Arizona," Duncan said in an interview Friday morning. "I will start by talking with the lawyers on both sides of the federal cases in which the death penalty procedures were challenged. I then will speak with the people at the Department of Corrections, rehabilitation and reentry."

Duncan said he hopes to identify what went wrong with the death penalty in Arizona and find out how to fix it.

"We know that one thing is pretty easy to fix, I think. And that is transparency − just doing everything in the open and not, you know, hiding it from the citizens of Arizona. We just won't do that anymore," Duncan said. "My report will talk about the problems that happened, and try to identify the causes. And from that information, the policymakers, the governor, the legislature, and the people in the department of corrections can maybe hopefully make decisions about how to go forward."

Former Gov. Doug Ducey and former Attorney General Mark Brnovich resumed executions in Arizona in 2022, carrying out the lethal injections of death row prisoners Clarence Dixon, Frank Atwood, and Murray Hooper. Execution team members struggled to insert IV lines during the lethal injection process for all three men.

"If the state of Arizona is executing people in the name of Arizonans, Arizonans deserve transparency around that process," Hobbs said in a previous statement about the work of the Commissioner.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Katie Hobbs appoints retired judge to review death penalty procedures