The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had put Joseph Wood’s execution on hold because of his First Amendment claims about Arizona’s secrecy surrounding the lethal injection process. On Tuesday evening, the Supreme Court said the execution can proceed.
More than 20 years ago, Joseph Rudolph Wood III was convicted of a double murder:
After decades of appeals, the execution was set in May for this Wednesday:
Once the state began seeking a warrant of execution, the head of Arizona’s Federal Public Defender’s Capital Habeas Unit, Dale Baich, began seeking additional information about Arizona's specific plans for the would-be execution. A response came June 6:
