PHOENIX (AP) — Executions will resume in Arizona following a two-year pause, the state's top prosecutor says.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday that she will soon seek an execution warrant for Aaron Brian Gunches, who is on death row after being convicted of killing his girlfriend's ex-husband.
Mayes said her office had been preparing to resume the use of the death penalty in Arizona since earlier this year as it worked with state corrections officials to review and improve procedures.
Gov. Katie Hobbs had promised not to carry out any executions until there was confidence the state can do so without violating any laws. The attorney general's office had said it would not seek a court order to carry out the death penalty while a review was underway.
The review Hobbs had ordered effectively ended this month when she dismissed the retired federal magistrate she had appointed earlier to head the review.
The governor's spokesman, Christian Slater, said Hobbs “remains committed to upholding the law while ensuring justice is carried out in a way that’s transparent and humane.”
Corrections officials “conducted a thorough review of policies and procedures and made critical improvements to help ensure executions carried out by the State meet legal and constitutional standards,” Slater said.
The attorney general said in May that executions could resume by early 2025, after the review was completed.
Mayes said that in line with that timeline she will ask the Arizona Supreme Court in the coming weeks to issue an execution warrant for Gunches, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Ted Price.
Gunches had been set to be put to death in April 2023. But Hobbs’ office said the state wasn’t prepared to enforce the death penalty because it lacked staff with expertise to carry out executions,. At the time, it also said it could not find an IV team to carry out the lethal injection and didn’t have a contract with a pharmacist to compound the pentobarbital needed for an execution.
Gunches had pleaded guilty to a murder charge in the shooting death of Price, who was his girlfriend’s ex-husband, near the Phoenix suburb of Mesa.
Arizona last carried out three executions in 202 2 following a nearly eight-year hiatus brought on by criticism that a 2014 execution was botched and because of difficulties obtaining drugs for execution.
FILE - Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes pauses during an interview with The Associated Press, Nov. 21, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
Liverpool is 100% on top of the Champions League after dumping title holder Real Madrid into an almost unbelievable 24th place in the 36-team standings on Wednesday.
No one felt the embarrassment of Madrid’s 2-0 loss at Anfield more than Kylian Mbappé, the superstar added in the offseason by the storied club that also was European champion against Liverpool in the finals of 2022 and 2018.
Mbappé had a penalty saved in the second half and was earlier dumped on his behind by Conor Bradley’s superb tackle in an instant viral moment.
Only Liverpool has started the new Champions League format with five wins and first-year coach Arne Slot's team is two points clear of Inter Milan. Barcelona is third, trailing Liverpool by three points.
Madrid is, remarkably, with three rounds left just one place above being eliminated. The top eight teams at the end of January go direct to the round of 16 in March, and teams placed from ninth to 24th enter a round of two-leg playoffs in February.
“(This) doesn’t change much, because even with a win it was going to be tough to secure a top-eight finish,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. ”It was a fair result."
Monaco missed a chance to go second in the table, giving up a lead playing with 10 men from the 58th minute in a 3-2 loss at home to Benfica. Swiss forward Zeki Amdouni scored the winning goal in the 88th.
Borussia Dortmund, the beaten finalist against Madrid in May, is up to fourth place after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. Champions League standout Jamie Gittens now has four goals in five games, curling a rising shot in the 41st to open the scoring in Croatia.
The best comeback was at PSV Eindhoven, where the home team trailed Shakhtar Donetsk by two goals in the 87th minute before a 3-2 win was sealed by United States forward Ricardo Pepi’s goal deep in stoppage time.
US defender Cameron Carter-Vickers scored an embarrassing own goal for Celtic — playing a no-look pass far beyond goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel — in a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge.
“One of those things,” Schmeichel said. “Cam gets pressed and he hasn’t heard me shout that I’m not in (goal).”
Congo teammates Ngal’Ayel Mukau and Silas impressed in wins for Lille and Red Star Belgrade.
Mukau scored twice in 12th-place Lille’s 2-1 win at Bologna and Silas leveled for Red Star in a 5-1 rout of Stuttgart, though he barely celebrated his goal. Silas is on loan with the Serbian champion from Stuttgart.
Aston Villa's 0-0 draw with Juventus was preserved by an excellent save by Emiliano Martinez, the World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper, diving low to push away a header from Francisco Conceição.
Liverpool’s stand-in right back Bradley was a standout Wednesday, denying Mbappé at high speed in a signature defensive play in the 32nd.
The 21-year-old Northern Ireland defender, deputizing for fit-again Trent Alexander-Arnold, joined the attack in the 52nd to play a key pass returning the ball to Alexis Mac Allister who scored the opening goal.
After Mbappé’s penalty was pushed away by goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher in the 61st, Liverpool star Mo Salah missed with his spot-kick in the 70th, before substitute Cody Gakpo sealed the win with a header in the 77th.
Madrid now has lost three of five games after defeats at Lille and at home to AC Milan. The record 15-time European champion has another tough trip next, at fifth-place Atalanta on Dec. 10. On the same date, Liverpool is at 30th-place Girona and looks to be cruising into the round of 16.
“You know how special it is to play against a team that has won the Champions League so many times," Liverpool coach Slot said of Madrid. “They were a pain for Liverpool for many years too.”
Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz ended four-game losing runs to get their first points and wins.
Red Star rallied against Stuttgart after the German team led in the fifth minute. The 1991 European Cup winner’s goal to level the game in the 12th was scored by on-loan Silas. He held up his hands as if in apology as part of a low-key celebration.
Sturm Graz won 1-0 against Girona, the Spanish newcomer to European competitions. It was the Austrian champion’s first Champions League game since coach Christian Ilzer left to join Hoffenheim.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Liverpool's Cody Gakpo, center, scores his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Monaco's players celebrate after their teammate Soungoutou Magassa scoring his side's 2nd goal against Benfica during a Champions League opening phase soccer match at the Louis II stadium in Monaco, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Liverpool's manager Arne Slot and Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti, in the background, stand by the touchline before the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister, left, celebrates with Luis Diaz after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Supporters light flares during the Champions League soccer match between Dinamo Zagreb and Dortmund at Maksimir Stadium, in Zagreb, Croatia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
A general view as pyrotechnics are set off during pre-match entertainment before the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Astin Villa and Juventus at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
Red Star's Cherif Ndiaye reaches for a header over Stuttgart's Jeff Chabot during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Supporters of Red Star celebrate after Mirko Ivanic scored his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Red Star's Silas, right, celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Celtic's Cameron Carter-Vickers, left, after scoring an own goal for Club Brugge during the UEFA Champions League opening phase soccer stage match at Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday Nov. 27, 2024. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
Dortmund's Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, right, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League soccer match between Dinamo Zagreb and Dortmund at Maksimir Stadium, in Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo)
Liverpool's Conor Bradley tackles Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher saves a penalty from Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister, left, celebrates with Luis Diaz after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
