National Roundup

Arizona
Appeals court sides with GOP in voting rules case
PHOENIX (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Arizona doesn’t have to give voters who forget to sign their mail ballot time after the election to resolve the issue, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Democrats.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, overturned a lower-court ruling that found it’s unconstitutional for Arizona to give voters time after an election to resolve mismatched signatures but not missing signatures. The appellate judges said Arizona’s interest in reducing the burden on busy poll workers justifies the disparity.

The overwhelming majority of Arizona voters cast mail ballots, which must be placed in a signed envelope to be counted. The signature on the ballot envelope is compared to others on file to confirm the voter’s identity.

Through the 2018 election, counties had their own policies around how to handle rejected ballots. All counties provided a post-election period for voters to fix signatures that were rejected because they didn’t closely match those on file, but the amount of time varied. Only some counties allowed voters to fix missing signatures after Election Day.

The Legislature in 2019 created a uniform five-day post-election period to fix mismatched signatures in federal elections but did not address missing signatures. Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs tried to include a five-day period for fixing both missing and mismatched signatures in the 2020 election procedures manual, but Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich refused to approve it.

Historically, Democrats have waited longer than Republicans to turn in their ballots, so they’re more likely to have a missing signature caught after Election Day when it’s too late to resolve it. The 2020 election jumbled voting patterns, however, as Democrats dominated early ballot returns.

The suit was brought by the Democratic National Committee, the Arizona Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The Republican National Committee and the Arizona Republican Party defended the state’s existing policy.

Last year, 587 ballots were rejected for a bad signature and 1,455 for a missing signature in Maricopa County, where voters cast 61% of Arizona’s ballots.

Mississippi
Attorney: Dismiss inmate’s request for execution
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — An attorney for a Mississippi inmate is asking the state Supreme Court to dismiss the inmate’s request for an execution date.

Blayde Nathaniel Grayson has been on death row 24 years. He said in a handwritten letter to justices last week: “I ask to see that my execution should be carried out forthwith.”

Attorney David Voisin submitted a separate letter  Tuesday telling justices that Grayson still has an appeal pending in federal court. Because of that, Voisin is asking justices to disregard Grayson’s request.

Grayson  said in his letter that he wants to end all of his appeals. He was convicted of capital murder in 1997 in the 1996 stabbing death of a 78-year-old Minnie Smith during a burglary of her home in south Mississippi’s George County.

Mississippi on Nov. 17 carried out its first execution  in nine years, giving a lethal injection to David Neal Cox, who surrendered all appeals and described himself as “worthy of death.” A jury in north Mississippi sentenced Cox to death after he pleaded guilty to killing his estranged wife and sexually assaulting his stepdaughter in front of her dying mother.

The state Supreme Court will decide whether to grant Grayson’s request. Mississippi Department of Corrections spokesperson Leo Honeycutt said Friday that the department will be ready if the justices set an execution date.

One of the current state Supreme Court justices, David Ishee, represented Grayson during his trial and during some appeals of the conviction.

Indiana
Judge declares mistrial in case of pastor’s wife’s slaying
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A judge declared a mistrial in the case of a man charged in the fatal 2015 shooting of an Indianapolis pastor’s wife after learning some jurors knew she had been pregnant — a fact defense attorneys had successfully moved to keep from the jury.

Marion County Judge Grant Hawkins declared the mistrial Monday on the first day of Larry Jo Taylor Jr.’s murder trial in Amanda Blackburn’s killing.

Hawkins told The Indianapolis Star more than one juror had learned “Ms. Blackburn was pregnant at the time of her death” even though jurors were not supposed to know about her pregnancy.

The court will seat a new jury for a subsequent trial.

Blackburn, 28, was fatally shot in November 2015 in her Indianapolis home during a home invasion. She was 12 weeks pregnant with her second child.

Taylor, 24, is one of three men who was charged in connection with her killing. He faces four counts of murder, three counts of burglary, three counts of theft and a count of robbery. Taylor also is charged with criminal confinement, auto theft and carrying a handgun without a license.

His two co-defendants accepted plea deals on the condition they would cooperate in Taylor’s prosecution.

Investigators have said the suspects saw Davey Blackburn, the woman’s husband, leave their home and then began a burglary.

Co-defendant Jalen E. Watson pleaded guilty in 2017 to one count of robbery and two counts of burglary. He was sentenced in March to 29 years for the robbery charge and 20 combined years for the burglary charges, and ordered to serve the sentences concurrently.

The other co-defendant, Diano Cortez Gordon, pleaded guilty in 2018 to robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and two counts of burglary. His case is ongoing.

Maine
Jail gives drug overdose antidote to every person released
ALFRED, Maine (AP) — One of Maine’s largest jails is providing the drug overdose antidote Narcan to all inmates when they are released.

The York County Jail begin providing harm reduction bags Wednesday that contain a number of items, including Narcan and fentanyl test strips, Sheriff William King told Maine Public.

“Even if they don’t use the opioid themselves, they probably know someone who does. Or, at least now they have Narcan and they’re being released and that’s another, what I consider another soldier, that can help somebody if they witness an overdose,” King says.

Maine Behavioral Health, Southern Maine Health and Sweetser collaborated to make the bags available to former inmates.

This year is shaping up to be Maine’s deadliest year for overdose deaths, with an average of 50 being recorded each month.