What happened: Judge Jennifer Green, who oversees the Maricopa Superior Court’s criminal department, has quietly rolled out a program to facilitate quicker resolutions to death penalty cases in Arizona’s most-populous county.
The court has begun issuing orders for the prosecution and defense to participate in settlement conferences two years after a notice to seek the death penalty is filed, according to a statement from the court. The orders are meant to “encourage” settlement talks in capital cases, which often drag on for many years only to end with prosecutors reducing the charges.
Court officials said current and retired judges will conduct the hearings…