Attorneys will present arguments before a federal judge in Phoenix on Friday in one of two cases challenging the secrecy surrounding executions in Arizona.
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press after the July 2014 execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood, who died nearly two hours after he was injected with a two-drug combination. Wood's attorney says the execution was botched, a claim the state denies.
The organizations say the public has a right to know how the state carries out executions.
But the state says its executions are transparent and that not all details should be public.
A different lawsuit originally filed by Wood and other death row inmates also challenges the secrecy around executions. Executions have been on hold since Wood's death.