PHOENIX (AP) - Litigation over Arizona's execution process has resumed, and a judge says the states dwindling supply of a controversial sedative used for executions may put the process on the fast track.
Death-row inmates and the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona filed suit in 2014 for more transparency in the execution process.
Attorneys for the Arizona Department of Corrections said Tuesday that the state has no way to replenish its supply of midazolam before it expires in May. The sedative has been used as part of a multi-drug combination in several executions that went awry, including the July 2014 death of Joseph Wood, whose execution took nearly two hours.
Prisoners' attorney Mark Haddad says the case could wrap up by the end of 2016, but not realistically by May.
