Wendell Griffen
LITTLE ROCK- The state has asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to dissolve a judge’s order that temporarily blocks the upcoming executions of eight death-row inmates, saying the judge who issued the order overstepped his authority.
The attorney general’s office asked the court to mandate that the lower court hold a hearing on the inmates’ request for a preliminary injunction before Oct. 21, when the first two executions were originally scheduled. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Merritt argued that several motions filed by the inmates’ attorneys appear to be an intentional effort to stall the executions until after one of the state’s lethal injection drugs expires.
The Supreme Court didn’t immediately rule on the request Wednesday, but set a Friday deadline for the inmates’ attorneys to respond.
Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Wendell Griffen issued the temporary stay after inmates’ lawyers challenged a new Arkansas law that allows the state not to disclose information about its execution-drug supplier. The attorneys argue that the law violates a settlement in an earlier lawsuit with inmates.
In a petition filed at the Supreme Court late Tuesday, Merritt said Griffen overreached his jurisdiction by halting the executions, which were scheduled between October and January. Merritt also objected to Griffen setting a hearing in the case for March 1, noting that one of the state’s three lethal drugs expires in June 2016.
The petition was amended Wednesday to add Griffen as a defendant. The judge – who also ordered the state to release information about the state’s drug supplier to the inmates’ attorneys – has already denied the state’s request that he reverse his decision.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson chastised Griffen on Wednesday, saying he believed the judge’s “comments and approach” were inappropriate. The governor also said he was puzzled that Griffen ordered the state to turn over information about its execution drugs before the case went to trial.
“This is a decision that should be substantively discussed and ultimately decided by the Supreme Court,” he said.
The attorney general’s office also asked for an expedited hearing on Wednesday to address some pending issues, including an overall appeal of Griffen’s stay. But attorneys for the inmates said the request introduced new arguments without specifics, making it impossible for them to answer.
Arkansas’ secrecy law, which is similar to laws in a handful of other death-penalty states, requires the Department of Correction to keep secret any information that might identify the manufacturer, seller or distributor of the drugs used during lethal injections.
The inmates’ attorneys argue that without knowledge of the drug makers or suppliers, they cannot fully investigate whether the drugs come from a reputable source or examine purity tests, which could lead to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.
The inmates have also challenged the state’s plan to use a three-drug protocol that includes midazolam, a sedative that was implicated after executions lasted longer than expected in Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of the drug in Oklahoma’s execution protocol in a June ruling.
The Arkansas Supreme Court also agreed to give one of the inmates, Bruce Earl Ward, more time to pursue an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges procedural issues in his case. Ward was among two inmates scheduled to be executed Oct. 21.
Associated Press writer Andrew DeMillo contributed to this report from Little Rock.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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