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Arizona Attorney General Seeks January Execution Date for 1995 Trooper Killer
Attorney General Kris Mayes has asked the Arizona Supreme Court to schedule the execution of Ernesto Martinez for Jan. 27, 2027, for the 1995 murder of DPS Trooper Bob Martin. Prosecutors say Martinez has exhausted his appeals, but a pending post-conviction notice could complicate the request.
PHOENIX â Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has formally asked the Arizona Supreme Court to set a Jan. 27, 2027, execution date for Ernesto Martinez, who was convicted of killing a state trooper during a 1995 traffic stop on the Beeline Highway.
The request, filed in court documents dated Nov. 6, comes after prosecutors say Martinez has exhausted both his state and federal appeals. The state initially listed three possible Sundays in January 2027 â Jan. 13, Jan. 20, and Jan. 27 â before correcting the filing to request only Jan. 27.
Martinez was convicted in 1997 of first-degree murder in the death of Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper Bob Martin and was sentenced to death the following year. According to court records and DPS accounts, Martinez shot Martin on Aug. 15, 1995, during a traffic stop a few miles north of Shea Boulevard on the Beeline Highway. Martinez then fled and remained at large for two days, during which he killed a second person in California before being captured.
The case has remained in the courts for nearly three decades. Prosecutors acknowledged in their filing that a 2019 post-conviction notice filed by Martinez remains pending, but they argue it does not legally prevent the issuance of an execution warrant. It was not immediately clear whether Martinez's defense attorneys plan to challenge the request or seek further review.
Arizona currently has 108 people on death row, according to the state Department of Corrections. If the court grants the request, Martinez's execution would be the latest in a series of capital proceedings in Arizona, which has faced scrutiny in recent years over its execution protocols and the availability of lethal injection drugs.
The Attorney General's Office did not provide additional comment beyond the court filing. DPS has previously memorialized Martin, who was 31 at the time of his death, as an officer killed in the line of duty.
The Arizona Supreme Court will now consider the request and, if granted, issue a warrant setting the specific date and time. No hearing date on the motion has been announced.