View Full Version : Utah man to be executed by firing squad
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100424/ap_on_re_us/us_utah_firing_squad
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah is set to execute a convicted killer by firing squad after a judge agreed Friday to the inmate's request, renewing a debate over what critics see as an antiquated, Old West-style of justice.
Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49, was given the choice of being killed by lethal injection or shot by a five-man team of executioners firing from a set of matched rifles — a rarely used method of execution that harkens back to Utah's territorial history.
"I would like the firing squad, please," Gardner told state court Judge Robin Reese after hearing his avenues for appeal appear to be exhausted.
Gardner, 49, was sentenced to death for killing an attorney 25 years ago during a failed escape attempt and shootout.
Defense attorney Andrew Parnes said he plans to quickly seek a stay of execution and appeal Reese's ruling to the Utah Supreme Court.
It's unclear if a stay would be granted, but an appeal, once received, would be promptly reviewed because of the nature of the case, Utah State Courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said.
Gardner also has seven days to ask Utah's Board of Pardons and Parole to commute his sentence to life without the possibility of parole.
This is the fourth time a judge has signed a warrant for Gardner's execution. Parnes said it seems his client's death may be "closer than ever before."
"I don't think it was a shock or a surprise, and he's coming to grips with that," Parnes said without explaining Gardner's choice of firing squad.
"It's his personal choice," he said. "He did that in 1985 and he's done it again."
Gardner would be Utah's first execution since 1999 and the third man to be killed by a firing squad in the state since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976: Gary Gilmore on Jan. 17, 1977 — after famously uttering the last words, "Let's do it," and John Albert Taylor on Jan. 26, 1996.
Of the 35 states with the death penalty on the books, Utah is the only one to still use the firing squad as a method of execution. Oklahoma is the only other state that considers a firing squad an acceptable option, but by law would only use it if lethal injection was deemed unconstitutional. The state has never used the method.
In an appeal, Parnes would likely reiterate arguments made to Reese that Gardner had been denied state funds to pay for experts and investigators who could have provided mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his case.
"We believe that there is a reasonable probability that had the evidence been presented at a sentencing phase in front of a jury of eight or 12 people that at least one of those jurors would have returned a verdict of life," he said after the hearing. "If there is not unanimity, then it is an automatic life sentence under the laws of Utah."
Assistant Utah Attorney General Tom Brunker said he doesn't think Gardner is entitled to an appeal, but that he may be able to seek an expedited review of his case by the state's highest court.
"We will vigorously oppose any further stays of execution," Brunker said.
Friday's hearing was conducted amid heavy security with several officers standing guard around the shackled Gardner, who wore an orange jumpsuit and white shoes.
He traded pleasantries with Brunker and Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who asked Gardner how he was doing.
"Good, considering the circumstances," Gardner replied.
Utah's death row inmates were for decades allowed to choose how they wanted to die. State lawmakers removed that choice in 2004 and made lethal injection the default method, though inmates sentenced before then still have a choice.
The repeal of the firing squad wasn't tied to any discomfort with the method itself. Rather, state lawmakers disliked the heaps of negative media attention that firing squads focused on the state, said Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, who twice carried legislation to change the law.
In 1996, more than 150 media outlets descended on Utah to cover Taylor's execution, painting the firing squad as an Old West-style of justice that allows killers to go out in a blaze of glory that embarrasses the state.
Lawmakers did not retroactively ban the firing squad out of fear that it would give condemned inmates a new avenue of appeal, Allen said.
Gardner is one of at least four of 10 men on Utah's death row who have said they want to die by firing squad.
About 20 anti-death penalty protesters demonstrated in the courthouse rotunda before the hearing.
"The firing squad is archaic, it's violent, and it simply expands on the violence that we already experience from guns as a society," said Bishop John C. Wester, of Utah's Catholic Diocese.
Gardner was convicted of the fatal shooting death of Utah attorney Michael J. Burdell during an escape attempt and shootout at the old Metropolitan Hall of Justice in downtown Salt Lake City on April 2, 1985.
Although he was handcuffed and surrounded by prison guards, a female acquaintance slipped Gardner a loaded, long-barreled .22-caliber handgun in the basement of the building just before the shooting. He shot Burdell in the head and wounded the court bailiff before being captured on the courthouse lawn.
On Friday, both Burdell's girlfriend from 1985 and his father, Joseph Burdell Jr., testified that Burdell would not want Gardner to die in his name.
A pacifist who was drafted into the U.S. Army, Burdell served in Vietnam but refused to carry a gun, Donna Nu said.
"He would have not wanted Ronnie Lee's execution. He didn't believe in that," a tearful Nu said. "If Ronnie would have just wounded him and Michael would have lived, he would have defended him."
I think it is awesome they still using the firing squad!
It sucks that it has taken 25 years since he killed the attorney for it to get to this...
I wonder what kind of rifles they are going to use?
Not_A_Llama
04-24-2010, 00:49
IIRC, Winchester 94s.
Wikipedia says ".30-30 caliber rifles and off-the-shelf Winchester 150 grain (9.7 g) SilverTip ammunition"
5.56mm carbines would probably be a lot faster. Not sure where you'd want to go on that observation.
I was always told that the 4 of the 5 have rounds in their guns or something? Any truth to that?
Also, sounds like this guy picked this just so people would throw a fit and delay his death further. Maybe. Just my knee jerk reaction.
I was always told that the 4 of the 5 have rounds in their guns or something? Any truth to that?
Also, sounds like this guy picked this just so people would throw a fit and delay his death further. Maybe. Just my knee jerk reaction.
Yes, so there is "the shadow of doubt" in the minds of the shooters.
Never really bothered Utah before,,Don't see as to why it would now.. [Tooth]
Jumpstart
04-24-2010, 05:56
I wonder what the pay is to be on the firing squad.
KevDen2005
04-24-2010, 06:17
Why is it such a big deal if he chooses it? It's not like it was his only option!!!
The article says "Old West" Justice. I think it would be better if they hung him than shot him.
Why is it such a big deal if he chooses it? It's not like it was his only option!!!
The article says "Old West" Justice. I think it would be better if they hung him than shot him.
Especially if they miscalculate the drop weight..[Abused]
ryanek9freak
04-24-2010, 07:28
I think it's the other way around if I'm not mistake. I think out of 5 guns, 4 have blanks in them.
I think it's the other way around if I'm not mistake. I think out of 5 guns, 4 have blanks in them.
[ROFL1]
Wrong.....
How It Works: Firing squad executions are so incredibly rare in the United States that it is difficult to speak of a standard operating procedure, but historically the victim is strapped to a chair, five sharpshooters aim at the victim's heart, and all five pull the trigger. One of the sharpshooters is secretly armed with a blank round, which means that each shooter can rest comfortably in the knowledge that there is a 20% chance that she never shot the prisoner.
I don't care how they do it just as long as they do it!
He's a convicted murderer! Do you know how much it costs to keep one of them locked up?
If the evidence is 100% conclusive they should just execute them immediately after sentencing thus saving the tax payer millions of $.
There I’ve help reduce our national debt!
I was always told that the 4 of the 5 have rounds in their guns or something? Any truth to that?
Also, sounds like this guy picked this just so people would throw a fit and delay his death further. Maybe. Just my knee jerk reaction.
As far as I'm aware Colorado still has this option as well, for sure what I would choose if I was on death row forget all that needle nonsense
Also Jumpstart: [ROFL2][ROFL3] I almost died at your reaction
I don't care how they do it just as long as they do it!
He's a convicted murderer! Do you know how much it costs to keep one of them locked up?
If the evidence is 100% conclusive they should just execute them immediately after sentencing thus saving the tax payer millions of $.
There I’ve help reduce our national debt!
Amen and pass the ammo.
Troublco
04-24-2010, 08:19
On Friday, both Burdell's girlfriend from 1985 and his father, Joseph Burdell Jr., testified that Burdell would not want Gardner to die in his name.
A pacifist who was drafted into the U.S. Army, Burdell served in Vietnam but refused to carry a gun, Donna Nu said.
"He would have not wanted Ronnie Lee's execution. He didn't believe in that," a tearful Nu said. "If Ronnie would have just wounded him and Michael would have lived, he would have defended him."
"Wouldn't want him to die in his name"??? Gee, you don't think that the simple act of committing murder in a state with the death penalty could have had anything to do with it, do you? It also illustrates how out of touch, in my opinion, so many people are. "He would have defended him". Whatever. This character is a violent criminal who didn't mind committing murder to try to escape, and the firing squad is entirely appropriate.
Troublco
04-24-2010, 08:24
I don't care how they do it just as long as they do it!
He's a convicted murderer! Do you know how much it costs to keep one of them locked up?
If the evidence is 100% conclusive they should just execute them immediately after sentencing thus saving the tax payer millions of $.
There I’ve help reduce our national debt!
I saw a thing recently where now the anti-death penalty people are trying to use the budget to stop the death penalty from being carried out. They had this thing about how a death penalty case costs so much more than just life in prison, and we should just sentence them to life. I'll bet if they didn't take 20 years to make it happen it wouldn't cost anywhere near what they're saying.
If they have a case where there is no doubt that the person did it, like they caught them in the act or something, there shouldn't be technicalities. Give them one appeal, and then carry out the sentence. Now I think if there's question it should be looked into more thoroughly, but 20 years?? Or in this joker's case, 25? That's almost life right there.
I wonder if all these wannabe dogooders would want these poor, misunderstood people living next to them if they were released. Hmmmm.....
I wonder what the pay is to be on the firing squad.
that crossed my mind too!
I don't care how they do it just as long as they do it!
He's a convicted murderer! Do you know how much it costs to keep one of them locked up?
If the evidence is 100% conclusive they should just execute them immediately after sentencing thus saving the tax payer millions of $.
There I’ve help reduce our national debt!
I feel the same way. after someone is convicted of life without parole or multiple life sentences, if they have no chance of ever seeing freedom, then they need to be finished off. hell, california just released a ton of their inmates due to overpopulation.
There aren't nearly as many programs like their used to be where these guys were useful to society still and built roads and bridges and farmed their own food. just an ever increasing burden on society.
GreenScoutII
04-24-2010, 09:09
Well, he did kill a lawyer.... Are we sure the death penalty is appropriate in this case? I mean, maybe we should give him a medal or something....
JUST KIDDING GUYS.......
Seriously, the death penalty is not something to be taken lightly. If the crime committed warrants it, fine, but as a society we had better make sure we have all of our ducks in a row. There is nothing that can be done to reverse an execution if it is determined later that the convict was actually innocent.
Also, I tend to think lethal injection isn't a quick and quiet way to go out. If it were me, I think I'd prefer to be shot. Just saying.....
Not_A_Llama
04-24-2010, 09:41
[ROFL1]
Wrong.....
How It Works: Firing squad executions are so incredibly rare in the United States that it is difficult to speak of a standard operating procedure, but historically the victim is strapped to a chair, five sharpshooters aim at the victim's heart, and all five pull the trigger. One of the sharpshooters is secretly armed with a blank round, which means that each shooter can rest comfortably in the knowledge that there is a 20% chance that she never shot the prisoner.
The last guy that got executed in Utah was found by his brother to have had 5 bullet holes. I also would have trouble believing you wouldn't notice the recoil on a 30-30.
I'd like to buy tickets for this event. Cant find any links online?[ROFL1]
ChunkyMonkey
04-24-2010, 10:38
When it comes to capital punishment, I like Chicom style..
1. Jury court rules
2. Automatic appeal - 3 judge rule
3. If sentence is still to be carried, official must prove his/her identification and announce it publicly but not carried it out publicly...
4. Sentence Commenced
5. Recording, notification to family, 'billing' <--
It's a 1 year process in most cases.
Supreme court may probate the death penalty (Just like Governors have the right to stop executions here in US) - however the probation is called 2 year probation execution. If granted (very rarely), the deadman must conduct good chicom behaviors in the prison for 2 years. If the probation officer deems that he is not communist enough, he is back on the firing line within a month - otherwise it's life in prison after the 2 years.
The whole process have enough deterrence to maintain lower rate in that country.
I am one of those guys who dont believe convicted criminal should have the same rights and wasted more of our fund and resources - oh and i flunked social study because of the very same essay. [Coffee]
GunTroll
04-24-2010, 13:02
If I was giving the choice I'd go firing squad! Injection seems boring. Hope I never have to make that choice though.
theGinsue
04-25-2010, 11:25
Why is it such a big deal if he chooses it? It's not like it was his only option!!!
The article says "Old West" Justice. I think it would be better if they hung him than shot him.
I'd rather be hung than shot and would rather receive lethal injection than be hung. Just sayin.
I just looked and its gone, but there was a page on the Utah DOC page that described how they do this. They allude to the fact that the rifles are bolted down on benches having been sighted in before hand. The guns can't miss that way. The shooter just walks up behind the gun and pulls the trigger. Four bullets one blank. With lethal injection they also have multiple syringe setups so nobody knows who really killed the guy.
They also discussed why the firing squad was still around. It had religious implications. Apparently it was a hold over from years gone by when Mormons ran things in Utah. (No insult intended.) A firing squad was chosen because the belief is that there can be no remission of sins without the shedding of blood. Hanging and lethal injection do not shed blood.
rforsythe
04-26-2010, 08:09
I just looked and its gone, but there was a page on the Utah DOC page that described how they do this. They allude to the fact that the rifles are bolted down on benches having been sighted in before hand. The guns can't miss that way. The shooter just walks up behind the gun and pulls the trigger. Four bullets one blank. With lethal injection they also have multiple syringe setups so nobody knows who really killed the guy.
Hm, interesting. Multiple syringes exist regardless because it requires multiple chemicals (one is a sedative so no pain is felt, and one or two others stop the heart and other systemic functions - I can't remember the specific details). Maybe they just have multiple people flip switches to turn the machine on so nobody knows who really did it?
Lethal injection - They sterilize the needle... why? lol. It's not painful at all. They put you to sleep, then inject a chemical mix that stops your hearts. 5-10 minutes later they call the death. There have been a few cases where people had to be injected twice and the doctor on scene called death but the prisoner woke up shortly after (very, very sick, but still alive). In my opinion, lethal injection is too humane. A murder, rapists, ecetra should experience some pain in death... like they did to their victims.
Firing squad - They do not get paid insane amount of money. Usually they simple take a few guardsmen who went through a few extra classes. Their is no standard on the format... some people use all rounds, some people use x rounds mixed with blanks. There has been one case that I know of where death was by bleeding out instead of a straight kill shot. Still too humane in my opinion if the guards are dcent shots.
Hanging - too quick and clean unless the nooseman miscalculates the weight... too humane.
Electric chair - Gets a little messy... but efficient and painful if the ampage is done correctly. There has also been a few cases of survivors here as well.
Drawn and quartered - my personal favorite... done over several days, perp kept alive as long as possible with carterization.
Life sentence prisoners cost over $90K+ a year per inmate. This includes room and board and in most places - a gym, cable tv, etc. Not all lifers are in a maximum security, etc.
A bullet costs about 2 cents.... I'm just saying.
I linked this article to a friend, and she replied with, "Well, I've told you to read 'The Executioner's Song' a bunch of times already.
Soooo, here is the link, looks interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Executioner%27s_Song (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Executioner%27s_Song)
This is what she said it is about.
I told you to read it a couple times. Its interesting, because part of its about how the guy kills some people in Utah. The other part is about how he is put on death row and wants to die, but those stupid groups kept going to court to keep him alive cause they are against the death penalty. He finally got the firing squad.
'The Executioner's Song'
Stuart, thanks! That sounds like a great title for a dirge/ballad I'm writing!
The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord High Executioner's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_and_Sullivan)'s The Mikado (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mikado).
cowboykjohnson
04-26-2010, 12:24
Lethal injection - They sterilize the needle... why? lol. It's not painful at all. They put you to sleep, then inject a chemical mix that stops your hearts. 5-10 minutes later they call the death. There have been a few cases where people had to be injected twice and the doctor on scene called death but the prisoner woke up shortly after (very, very sick, but still alive). In my opinion, lethal injection is too humane. A murder, rapists, ecetra should experience some pain in death... like they did to their victims.
Firing squad - They do not get paid insane amount of money. Usually they simple take a few guardsmen who went through a few extra classes. Their is no standard on the format... some people use all rounds, some people use x rounds mixed with blanks. There has been one case that I know of where death was by bleeding out instead of a straight kill shot. Still too humane in my opinion if the guards are dcent shots.
Hanging - too quick and clean unless the nooseman miscalculates the weight... too humane.
Electric chair - Gets a little messy... but efficient and painful if the ampage is done correctly. There has also been a few cases of survivors here as well.
Drawn and quartered - my personal favorite... done over several days, perp kept alive as long as possible with carterization.
Life sentence prisoners cost over $90K+ a year per inmate. This includes room and board and in most places - a gym, cable tv, etc. Not all lifers are in a maximum security, etc.
A bullet costs about 2 cents.... I'm just saying.
+1
That sounds good to me
A bullet costs about 2 cents.... I'm just saying.
Everyone always says this, but find me a bullet that costs .2 cents. .22lr is the only one I can think of.
cowboykjohnson
04-26-2010, 12:44
I can load you one with a home cast bullet and used brass for about that...[Tooth]
Everyone always says this, but find me a bullet that costs .2 cents. .22lr is the only one I can think of.
That's all you need. Directly to the temple, eyball, etc... .22lr can kill very easily. Object is to kill the person, not create a huge exit cavity, etc.
ChunkyMonkey
04-26-2010, 13:04
He'll probably sell you a single .45 for .2cent just to shut you up [ROFL1]
to shut me up? ... didn't know I was grating on anyone. My apologies.
Bear, MB888 was talking to me bub.
That's all you need. Directly to the temple, eyball, etc... .22lr can kill very easily. Object is to kill the person, not create a huge exit cavity, etc.
I thought the object was to kill the person slowly and painfully over a period of several days :D
I thought the object was to kill the person slowly and painfully over a period of several days :D
It is. I was just saying that one could cut a lot of costs with just killing 'em quickly with cheap ammo.
SA Friday
04-26-2010, 16:21
The integrity of a culture CAN be measured by the humanity of their executions. We sterilize the needle. He isn't dead till the clock reads the right time, there is no stay on the execution, and the warden gives the go. As tempting as it is to just pop the guy in the back of the mellon with a pistol, all of the countries that I know of using this method are the ones we all detest; China, Russia, N. Korea, Iran...
Oklahoma still has firing squad on their books as a form of execution also. Utah uses the previously described criteria, and they use rifles.
Utah, I believe, is also the only state that still uses hanging. There's been three hanging executions while I've been alive.
rhineoshott
04-26-2010, 16:48
[quote=GreenScoutII;197875]Seriously, the death penalty is not something to be taken lightly. If the crime committed warrants it, fine, but as a society we had better make sure we have all of our ducks in a row. There is nothing that can be done to reverse an execution if it is determined later that the convict was actually innocent.[quote]
+1. I'm a hardcore capital punishment guy, but you've GOT to be sure.
So I guess that means the Rhythm method is out.
So I guess that means the Rhythm method is out.
and "Einey-Miney-Meney-Moo" too.... hehe
Good point SA Friday, we do need to be sure. There have been a lot of cases recently of falsly accused individuals.
In my opinion, lethal injection is too humane. A murder, rapists, ecetra should experience some pain in death... like they did to their victims.
I think they should send them to Native American tribes and let them hunt them and scalp them![LOL]
Everyone always says this, but find me a bullet that costs .2 cents. .22lr is the only one I can think of.
.15 cents should about do it...hell lets use some good stuff that is about $1!
theGinsue
04-26-2010, 21:28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqzJkTatWiQ
I hope I can always stay on everyone's good side. You folks are startin' to scare me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqzJkTatWiQ
I hope I can always stay on everyone's good side. You folks are startin' to scare me.
LOL! congrats zombie slayer!!!!
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