Thomas seeks faster process for death row appeals

When does speedy justice for victims become more important than a defendant’s right to appeal a death sentence?

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced Thursday that he’s asked U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to hurry the passage of regulations that lay out a timelimited appeals process for death row inmates.

Thomas tells Gonzales in a July 26 letter that Arizona has 113 people on death row, and the average length of time between an inmate’s crime and execution is 19 years.

“The victims, their surviving loved ones, and the citizens of this state deserve justice,” Thomas states in the letter.

But state and federal public defenders called Thomas’ announcement nothing more than political posturing.

“To him, justice delayed is justice denied,” said Marty L i e b e r m a n , Arizona’s

public defender in post - capital convictions.

Thomas blames the federal courts for preventing Arizona from using the current streamlined procedures in death penalty appeals. But Lieberman said it’s the state’s fault when its cases don’t qualify to move through the system more quickly. For an Arizona case to get through the process faster, the state must appoint capable attorneys for its indigent defendants in a timely manner.

Dale Baich, a federal assistant public defender, said there are 14 death penalty prisoners in Arizona awaiting appointed attorneys for post-conviction proceedings. He said one has been waiting for two years.

“That’s not a shining example of a system that works,” Baich said.

The federal Court of Appeals does allow Arizona to utilize a faster federal appeals process, Baich said, as long as the state meets its self-imposed requirement that it will preserve the integrity of the process.

Thomas was unavailable Thursday night to comment on the specific reasons he hopes the proposed regulations pass quickly.

“I think the county attorney’s gripe is that these cases are taking too long to go through the system,” Baich said. “These cases are very complicated. The courts are giving these cases the attention they require.”

“It takes as long as it needs to take,” he said.