By Kiera Riley | State Affairs
The Arizona Supreme Court pushed back the briefing deadlines, and thus, the execution of death row inmate Leroy McGill about two months past the state’s initial plan in a scheduling order Friday.
On Dec. 12, the state filed a motion to set a briefing schedule to acquire a motion for a warrant of execution. Under the proposed schedule, the state planned to file its official motion for a warrant of execution by Jan. 16, with a projected execution date of March 18.
In a response, federal public defender Jon Sands asked the court to set out the briefing schedule “out as far as possible.” Sands cited a cyberattack on the public defender’s office last year, which effectively destroyed case files dating decades back.
McGill’s case was caught in the net, leaving the federal capital defense to reconstruct and prepare for end-stage litigation and clemency proceedings.
The Arizona Supreme Court did not grant the initial motion to set out a schedule until Jan. 16, delaying the state’s initially envisioned timeline and granting McGill’s counsel time to prepare.
