SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A judge will question an Oregon inmate on death row who has asked to waive the rest of his appeals process and die of a lethal injection.
Judge Joseph Guimond will hold the hearing on Wednesday morning in the Marion County Courthouse, where 49-year-old Gary Haugen will answer 29 questions that Guimond will use to judge Haugen’s competency.
If Haugen is successful, his execution would be Oregon’s first in 14 years.
Prosecutors are seeking a July 28 date for death by lethal injection.
Haugen’s defense attorneys say Guimond needs experts to testify on Haugen’s competency.
Haugen was already in prison on a 1981 murder charge when he and another prisoner were convicted of the 2003 murder of a fellow inmate who they mistakenly thought was snitching to guards.
