Utah Firing Squad Execution Set for June 18

"Gardner to die by firing squad on June 18," by Pamela Manson is posted at the Salt Lake Tribune.

A state judge on Friday signed a warrant ordering that Ronnie Lee Gardner be put to death on June 18, setting the stage for Utah's first execution in more than a decade.

The condemned man chose firing squad over lethal injection as the way he will die. Department of Corrections officials will choose the time of the execution, which will take place at the Utah State Prison in Draper.

Third District Judge Robin Reese signed the warrant, saying, "The defendant has exhausted all his legal remedies."

"It's my conclusion not to second-guess the courts or undertake an independent review," he said.

Reese then said he assumed Gardner would want the method of execution he had chosen previously, to which Gardner, who appeared in court shackled and under heavy guard, said, "I would like the firing squad, please."

Defense attorney Andrew Parnes said he would appeal to the Utah Supreme Court on Gardner's behalf. Gardner could also ask the Board of Pardons and Parole to reduce his sentence to life in prison, a request that must be made by May 4.

The board can temporarily stop an execution to "fully hear" a commutation request, but attorneys for the state have said they believe there will be enough time for a hearing without a delay. At a hearing, witnesses testify for or against a life sentence. Neither side is allowed to cross-examine the other party's witnesses, but the five board members can question them.

And:

The last inmate to die in Utah by firing squad was John Albert Taylor, who raped and murdered 11-year-old Charla King. On Jan. 26, 1996, he was hooded and strapped to a chair as five shooters took aim at a cloth target taped over his heart. Four executioners fired live rounds, while one weapon had a blank.

Taylor said he chose the firing squad over lethal injection to embarrass Utah, the only state with that option.

The last inmate executed in Utah was Joseph Mitchell Parsons, who was strapped on a gurney on Oct. 15, 1999, and pronounced dead about two minutes after being administered a lethal dose of drugs. Parsons was put to death for murdering Richard Lynn Ernest, a concrete laborer from Loma Linda, Calif., who had given him a ride.

Parsons was the sixth death-row inmate to be executed in Utah since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

The first in Utah and the nation to be put to death after reinstatement was Gary Gilmore on Jan. 17, 1977, for the murder of Bennie Bushnell, a motel manager in Provo. Gilmore chose the firing squad over hanging.

Utah's death row has 10 inmates, including Gardner. All are men.

The Deseret News reports, "Judge signs execution warrant; Ronnie Lee Gardner requests firing squad," by Emiley Morgan and Josh Smith.

A judge signed an execution warrant Friday for Ronnie Lee Gardner, ordering that he be put to death on June 18.

"I would like the firing squad, please," Gardner told 3rd District Judge Robin Reese.

Reese heard last-minute arguments by defense attorneys hoping to convince him to change the sentence to life in prison. But the judge refused and signed the warrant authorizing the Utah State Prison to execute him.

"There is nothing in the arguments today to cause further reflection," Reese said, adding that none of the new defense arguments constituted a legal reason to stay the execution.

"It is my belief that the defendant has exhausted all legal remedies," he said.

And:

Four other death row inmates will eventually have the option to die by firing squad or by lethal injection, as they were grandfathered into the 2004 law. These are Ron Lafferty, Taberon Dave Honie, Troy Kell and Ralph Menzies, all of whom have appeals pending.

Earlier coverage from Utah begins with this post.

Comments

[Seneyt]

Oh, those barbaric Americans. Capital punishment, especially with such primitive means, belongs to the last millennium and the last century. For shame.