Bruce Earl Ward v. William Asa Hutchinson

Summary

The court held that Ward had standing to challenge the statute governing competency-for-execution determinations and that his due-process and separation-of-powers arguments were preserved for appellate review. On the merits, it held that Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-90-506(d)(1) is facially unconstitutional because it provides no procedure for a death-row inmate to make a substantial threshold showing of incompetency or obtain an evidentiary hearing. The court reversed the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings, declining to reach the separation-of-powers claim.