PHOENIX - A lawsuit against lethal injection execution could save the life of a man who killed and raped a girl over 25 years ago.
The Arizona Supreme Court refused to issue an execution warrant for Donald Beaty 54. He was convicted of killing and raping a 13-year-old girl who delivered newspapers and sentenced to death.
He abducted Christy Ann Fornoff on May 9, 1984.
The Maricopa County Attorney General’s Office asked the Arizona Supreme Court in December of 2009 to schedule an execution date for Beaty but he is reportedly part of a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s method of executing killers by lethal injection.
This protocol has been upheld by the Maricopa County Superior Court, as well as in federal court.
3TV has learned both cases are being appealed.
