By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The state Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments for May 28 in condemned killer Frank Williams Jr.’s lawsuit challenging the process the state Department of Correction uses in adopting rules regarding lethal injection.
The state attorney general’s office said it planned to file a motion as early as today asking the high court to dismiss the case because the Legislature addressed issues raised in the lawsuit during its regular session that ended last week.
“It will be our position that the new law renders Mr. Williams’ lawsuit moot,” Chief Deputy Attorney General Justin Allen said.
Williams, convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in the 1992 shooting death of Bradley farmer Clyde Spence, filed the lawsuit last year arguing the state Department of Correction failed to comply with the state Administrative Procedures Act when it adopted rules regarding lethal injection without taking public comments.
The department adopted the rules following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection in a Kentucky case.
Gov. Mike Beebe later set a Sept. 9 execution date for Williams but the execution was halted when Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox ruled for Williams in the inmate’s lawsuit, saying the new execution procedures should have been subjected to public review.
The state appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
During this year’s regular session, the Legislature approved Act 1296 of 2009, which declared all the procedures used in the lethal injection process exempt from the Arkansas Administrative Procedures Act, except for the types of chemicals used in the actual lethal injection.
“We’ll put that (dismissal motion) before the court, we’ll see what it does,” Allen said. “I don’t have any idea whether it will dismiss … the lawsuit prior to the oral argument or not. We’re going to put this new law in front of the court in the coming days so they can evaluate its impact.”
Williams’ attorney, federal public defender Julie Brain, declined comment Thursday.
