Kentucky AG asks judge to dismiss lawsuit that halted death penalty
Kentucky’s top law enforcement officer is urging a judge to dismiss a nearly 20-year-old lawsuit that for years has paused executions in the commonwealth.
Attorney General Russell Coleman argues that a civil case filed by Ralph Baze, sentenced to death more than 30 years ago for killing two police officers, has dragged on for too long. Dismissing Baze’s civil suit, which questions the constitutionality of the death penalty, would be a “significant victory for the rule of law,” Coleman says.
It marks the latest development in Coleman’s push to reinstate the death penalty in Kentucky, a top priority since he took office in January 2024. His staff has frequently been in Frankfort courtrooms arguing that Baze’s lawsuit should be a conduit for resuming lethal injections and providing justice to victims’ families.
Baze’s lawyer, David Barron, argues the state is twisting its case so it doesn’t have to abide by the the injunction that halted capital punishment in Kentucky.
“The language of the injunction is abundantly clear: It prohibits all executions until a final judgment is entered resolving the merits of the pending claims for relief,” Barron wrote in a recent court filing.
But over two decades and six amended complaints, Baze’s case has morphed into something nearly unrecognizable, Jack Heyburn, solicitor general in Coleman’s office, wrote in recent court filings.
The long fight over the legality of Baze’s execution began in 2007, when the U.S. Supreme Court halted capital punishment nationwide as it considered Baze’s appeal.
The Supreme Court eventually allowed executions to resume — and they did in some states, including Kentucky. But not for Baze.
Baze’s civil lawsuit remained ongoing, and in 2010, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd halted executions in the commonwealth for a second time.
One of Shepherd’s main questions was whether Kentucky had proper guardrails in place to avoid executing someone who has an intellectual disability or has been deemed insane by the courts.
But Coleman’s office contends those issues have been settled or are no longer relevant. And on Monday, in Frankfort, Heyburn and Coleman argued that position in front of Shepherd.
Coleman said many of the “weighty, due process” issues that originated 20 years ago with Baze’s appeal have been resolved. Modern concerns are “straw dogs,” he said.
“Baze’s name is on the case file, but the temporary injunction issued 16 years ago does not apply to him,” Coleman said Monday.
If Shepherd rules to dismiss Baze’s case, it would remove a key barrier preventing nearly a dozen Kentucky executions, Coleman’s office says.
“Each plaintiff has received that sentence from a jury of their peers, and many have exhausted all their opportunities to challenge that sentence,” Heyburn wrote in a recent filing. “Nevertheless, those sentences have gone unenforced — in some cases, for decades. The families and friends of those who were murdered by the plaintiffs deserve nothing less.”
What Ralph Baze’s lawyer says
While Coleman’s office argues that the central question of Shepherd’s 2010 ruling — whether Kentucky has guardrails in place to avoid executing someone who has an intellectual disability or has been deemed insane by the courts — has been settled, Baze’s lawyers say that’s not the case.
“The commonwealth is doing everything it can to prevent this court from determining if this legal obligation has been satisfied,” Barron wrote in a recent court filing.
Barron also represents other prisoners on Kentucky’s death row who joined Baze’s suit. Barron said Coleman’s filings have actively worked against efforts to determine if the judge’s concerns are resolved.
“It is time for the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s dubious strategy of presenting every possible argument (including opposite arguments), regardless of merit, in the hope that this court will not fulfill what it has described as it’s ‘duty’ to decide whether execution regulations are valid in all regards,” Barron wrote.
The death penalty in Kentucky
Baze, now 55, was convicted of killing a sheriff and a deputy in Powell County in 1992. A jury sentenced him to death two years later.
Since Shepherd’s 2010 ruling that halted their client’s execution, Baze’s lawyers have questioned the legality of several parts of Kentucky’s death penalty process, including defendants’ ability to meet with their lawyers, how quickly an IV can be inserted and whether media can be present for executions.
Another question was whether death row inmates need to be able to understand that they were going to die.
Just months after he took office in 2024, Coleman filed a motion asking the Franklin County Circuit Court to reverse its decision and end Kentucky’s ban on capital punishment.
Coleman argued that amended regulations were published by the Kentucky Department of Corrections the same year he took office that ensured the state is in full compliance with Shepherd’s 2010 ruling, and the judge’s earlier concerns are now moot.
Last year, Coleman sent two letters to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear requesting he sign a death warrant for Baze and allow an execution date to be set.
But Beshear denied he could sign a death warrant. He said the state lacked access to the drugs necessary to carry out a lethal injection and also needed further clarification on Department of Corrections protocols.
AG takes case to Supreme Court
In December, Coleman’s office asked the Franklin County Circuit Court to clarify that Beshear could sign a death warrant for Baze.
Later that month, Shepherd denied Coleman’s motion, saying that while he understood the victims’ family’s frustrations, the state’s separation of powers prohibited him from intervening in the request.
“Nevertheless, the motion before the court does not present a justiciable controversy that this court has jurisdiction to adjudicate, because it would violate the separation of powers,” Shepherd wrote.
So Coleman took his argument to Kentucky’s highest court.
Coleman’s office filed a writ of mandamus — an extreme measure that claims a government official or body has refused to comply with a mandatory duty — asking the Kentucky Supreme Court to intervene.
Coleman has used the legal maneuver before, when he filed a writ of mandamus against Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman.
A date has not been set for the Kentucky Supreme Court to consider Coleman’s request.
Shepherd will consider the arguments in Coleman’s request to dismiss Baze’s lawsuit and rule at a later date.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 2:53 PM.
