Arizona Supreme Court rejects bid to reschedule execution

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has declined to reschedule an execution that had been set for Thursday and looked unlikely to be carried out after Gov. Katie Hobbs’ office said the state wasn’t prepared to enforce the death penalty. In an order Wednesday, the court declined to set a May 1 execution date for prisoner Aaron Gunches for his murder conviction in the 2002 killing of Ted Price near Mesa, Arizona. Hobbs, who has ordered a review of Arizona’s death penalty protocols due to the state’s history of mismanaging executions, had vowed not to enforce any death sentences…