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Robert Henry Moormann (L)
and Robert Charles Towery (R) |
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the executions of two inmates, including one who has been on death row for 26 years for brutally killing and dismembering his adoptive mother.
The court approved warrants for Robert Henry Moormann and Robert Charles Towery and set their executions eight days apart from one another. Moormann’s execution was scheduled for Feb. 29 and Towery’s was scheduled for March 8.
If Moormann’s execution is carried out, it will be the first death penalty carried out in the state since July 19, when the state executed Thomas Paul West for the beating death of another man in a 1987 robbery.
The court was set to consider approving the death warrants for Moormann and Towery back in November, but delayed the decision at the last minute without explanation.
At the time, a federal judge was considering a lawsuit filed by defense attorneys arguing that Arizona’s execution practices violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The lawsuit claimed that the state had deviated from a court-approved execution protocol by using unvetted personnel to administer lethal injections under a sheet, away from witnesses’ view.
Judge Neil Wake ended up dismissing the lawsuit on Dec. 21. The defense attorneys are appealing his decision to the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Source: AP, January 11, 2012