TUCSON, Ariz — Arizona death row inmate Frank Atwood is awaiting a decision on how he will be put to death by the state.
Atwood is scheduled to be executed on June 8 for his murder conviction in the killing of 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in 1984.
Atwood has requested an alternative constitutional method of execution contending that forcing him to choose between cyanide gas and lethal injection violates his rights.
Atwood says that Arizona deprived him of his right to choose a constitutional execution method. He suffers from a severe form of spinal deterioration and says the lethal injection protocol cannot be used on him without causing unnecessary and extreme pain.
On Friday, the federal court held a hearing to determine whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would temporarily halt Atwood's execution.
According to a member of Atwood's legal team, no decision was made by the judge regarding the preliminary injunction during Friday's hearing.
Also on Friday, Atwood's attorneys also filed a legal motion with the Arizona Supreme Court to halt the execution until a ruling on a "successive petition for post-conviction relief" is made.
The petition asks the court for a retrial, alleging the state suppressed evidence that implicated an alternate suspect.
“Arizona is on the brink of torturing and executing Mr. Atwood for a crime he did not commit and based on a conviction obtained after the state violated Mr. Atwood’s constitutional rights by withholding evidence,” said Sam Kooistra, counsel for Mr. Atwood. “Executing Frank Atwood would be a deep and irreparable miscarriage of justice.”
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