History of the Death Penalty in Arizona free essay sample

The chamber itself was a scaffold and, in the floor, a trap door was constructed through which the bodies of the hanged fell into a room below. Death sentences have been carried out in Florence since 1910. Jose Lopez was the first individual executed by hanging at Florence on January 5, 1910. On Aug. 1, 1909, Lopez argued with Maria Espinoza, who owed his father $8. After Espinoza did not pay the debt, Lopez left the woman’s home, and later returned with a shotgun, While Espinoza and her seven children were sleeping. One of Espinoza’s sons heard Lopez enter the house, jumped out of bed and yelled. When Espinoza awoke to the commotion, Lopez shot and killed her. After the execution of Jose Lopez, 8 more individuals were executed. On December 8th 1916, an initiative measure went into effect eliminating the death penalty as punishment for convictions of first degree murder. The death penalty was restored December 5, 1918. We will write a custom essay sample on History of the Death Penalty in Arizona or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Nineteen executions by hanging occurred between April 16, 1920 and June 20, 1931. The first execution by lethal gas was carried out when two brothers, Manuel and Fred Hernandez, were executed at 5:00 a. m. on July 6, 1934. Lethal gas was used until 1962 when there was a period of 40 years with no executions. The new method of execution acquired by History of the death penalty in Arizona 2 Arizona was lethal injection, however if the crime was committed prior to November 23rd 1992 the death row inmate may choose either lethal gas, or lethal injection. The last prisoner executed by lethal gas was Walter B. LaGrand on March 3, 1999. There are currently 125 inmates currently on death row in Arizona. Below is the breakdown by ethnicity. Ethnic Origin|   | ASIAN| 2| BLACK| 15| CAUCASIAN| 78| MEXICAN AMERICAN| 24| MEXICAN NATIONAL| 1| NATIVE INDIAN| 3| OTHER| 2| | of these individuals 122 are males and 3 of them are female. Besides these three woman awaiting execution there has only been one woman in Arizona ever executed. Eva Dugan was executed by hanging on February 21, 1930, and remains the only legally executed woman to this day. The last inmate Executed in Arizona was INMATE 067151 COMER ROBERT, C. On February 3, 1987, Comer and his girlfriend, Juneva Willis, were at a campground near Apache Lake. They invited Larry Pritchard, who was at the campsite next to theirs, to have dinner and drinks with them. Around 9:00 p. m. Comer shot Pritchard in the head, killing him. He and History of the death penalty in Arizona 3 Willis then stole Pritchards belongings. Around 11: 00 p. m. , Comer and Willis went to a campsite occupied by Richard Brough and Tracy Andrews. Comer stole their property, hogtied Brough to a car fender, and then raped Andrews in front of Brough. Comer and Willis then left the area, taking Andrews with them, but leaving Brough behind. Andrews escaped the next morning and ran for 23 hours before finding help. Willis pled guilty to kidnapping and testified against Comer. Since March 2000, Comer has been attempting to withdraw his federal appeals so he can be executed. The Ninth Circuit Court granted his request in early 2007. For Comer’s last meal he had fried okra, 4 buns, lots of butter, lots of salt, and 2 slices of banana bread. He was executed on May 22, 2007. Hoping to receive a little extra credit I did some research on the county of Maricopa and the very popular Sheriff Joe Arpio whether it is good or bad publicity. Just like anything else there are two sides to every story, and Sheriff Joe Arpio is not immune to either. Sheriff Arpio created a program that provides unique access into the controversial world of Tent City, where the sheriff and his men rule with an iron fist. Hes put men and women into grueling chain gangs; legalized Wild West style posses; built a 1,200+ person prison out of Korean war tents and razor wire in the baking Arizona desert, dressed inmates into black and white striped clothing and pink underwear, given guards use of 75,000 volt electric stun guns,, and with an 85% approval rating in the county proudly boasts of being on the leading edge of law enforcement and incarceration. On a separate page I listed all the different methods he is using. History of the death penalty in Arizona 4 Sheriff Arpio has also taken a lot of backlash from the public, and different agencies; including, the Justice Department which alleges he is violating the inmates civil rights. On April 11, 2013 an explosive was mailed to his office in Maricopa County, fortunately, the explosive was intercepted. From 2004 through November 2007, Arpaio was the target of 2,150 lawsuits in  U. S. District Court  and hundreds more in Maricopa County courts, with more than $50 million in claims being filed,   50 times as many prison-conditions lawsuits as the New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston jail systems combined. Allegations of cruel treatment of inmates as well as living conditions have been cited by  Amnesty International  in a report issued on the treatment of inmates in Maricopa County facilities. It is very difficult to find many statistics on Sheriff Joe, but I did find