The Arizona Supreme Court Wednesday declined to force Governor Katie Hobbs to carry out the death row sentence of Aaron Gunches. The decision marks a victory for Hobbs, whose office is currently reviewing the state’s death penalty protocols.

Gunches was convicted of two counts of attempted second-degree murder in late 2002 and early 2003. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death in 2004. Karen Price, sister of victim Ted Price, sought a mandatory order to compel Hobbs to carry out Gunches’ execution.

Under Arizona law, the court’s role is to issue a warrant of execution that “authorises” the action. The court held that this warrant does not constitute a mandatory order. The court acknowledged that the Arizona Constitution provides that the Governor has a duty to act under the power provided to their office. However, the court ultimately held that issues raised by the parties “present[ed] mixed questions of law and fact” and declined to address them. Accordingly, the court declined to issue Price’s requested mandatory order.

Hobbs ordered a review into Arizona’s death penalty protocols this year due to the state’s history of mismanaged. Arizona temporarily stopped carrying out death sentences after the 2014 execution of Joseph Wood. Witnesses stated that Woods snorted and gasped before he died, and his death required 15 injections and over two hours. Executions resumed last May, and Arizona currently has 110 prisoners on death row.