A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a request to postpone the planned execution of an Arizona prisoner in what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals keeps on track plans to execute 66-year-old Clarence Dixon on Wednesday morning at the state prison in Florence for his murder conviction in the 1978 killing of 21-year-old Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin.
Dixon’s remaining legal efforts center on his claims that he is mentally unfit to be executed and that his psychological problems prevent him from rationally understanding why the state wants to end his life.
The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a state judge’s decision that rejected Dixon’s arguments, leading his attorneys to introduce similar claims in federal court.
In rejecting Dixon’s arguments, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa concluded the state judge had applied the correct legal standards in assessing Dixon’s mental fitness.
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