Las Vegas judge signs Scott Dozier’s execution warrant

Scott Dozier could be dead in less than a month.

A judge this week signed an execution warrant for the Nevada death row prisoner, and his lethal injection is scheduled for 8 p.m. July 11.

Last month, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that District Judge Jennifer Togliatti should not have denied the prison system’s planned use of a paralytic drug to execute Dozier.

But an attorney for the Department of Corrections has said that the state’s supply of diazepam, an anxiety drug and one of the three drugs in the lethal injection cocktail, has expired, and it’s unclear whether the prison system has obtained a new drug.

Prison spokeswoman Brooke Santina said Wednesday that “we have what we need to complete the order,” but she did not know which drugs are expected to be used.

One of Dozier’s lawyers, Tom Ericcson, said he did not expect Dozier to pull back on his request to be executed.

“I am not aware of anything else that is going to be done,” Ericsson said. “Scott doesn’t want anything else to be done.”

The Supreme Court stated in its ruling that federal public defenders representing Dozier did not follow the procedure in challenging what they called “cruel and unusual punishment.” Dozier has maintained his desire to die since writing to Togliatti two years ago. The judge said that as of earlier this month, Dozier has maintained that desire, according to online court records.

Assistant Solicitor General Jordan Smith, representing the prison system, told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that under the suggested protocol, which included the paralytic drug cisatracurium, Dozier would not suffer.

In November, Togliatti denied the use of the paralytic and granted a request from the prison’s lawyers to stay the execution as the lethal injection process was reviewed by a higher court.

David Anthony, another lawyer for Dozier, had argued for a two-drug cocktail that did not include the paralytic drug.

Last year, prison officials concocted a three-drug mixture that included the paralytic, diazepam and the pain reliever fentanyl.

Should his wish be carried out, Dozier would be the first inmate executed in Nevada since 2006.

A Clark County jury convicted Dozier in September 2007 of killing 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller at the now-closed La Concha motel. In 2005, Dozier was convicted in Arizona of second-degree murder in another case.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.