Nevada Supreme Court sets hearing on execution drugs
The Nevada Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in the state prison system’s appeal of a decision that halted condemned killer Scott Dozier’s execution, according to an order handed down Thursday.
In its ruling, the high court agreed to hear arguments in Las Vegas on Sept. 12 from the attorney general’s office and lawyers representing the companies that made each of the drugs in the Department of Corrections’ three-drug execution cocktail.
Dozier’s execution has been halted twice in Clark County District Court, most recently on July 11, hours before he was scheduled to die.
The prisoner, who waived his appeals in late 2016, was sentenced to die in 2007 after first-degree murder and robbery convictions in the slaying of Jeremiah Miller. The victim’s torso was found on April 25, 2002, in a suitcase that had been dumped in a trash bin at a Las Vegas apartment complex.
Dozier also had a murder conviction in the Arizona slaying of Jasen “Griffin” Greene before he was brought to Nevada to face charges in Miller’s death. Dozier would be the first prisoner executed in Nevada since 2006.
The high court also lifted a temporary stay on proceedings in District Court, where a judge blocked the prison system’s use of the sedative midazolam, but it is unclear whether any hearings will be held before the Supreme Court arguments.
Dissenting from the decision to lift the stay, but agreeing to hear oral argument, Justice Lidia Stiglich and Chief Justice Michael Douglas wrote that “this case presents important questions of first impression in Nevada and throughout the country.”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.