Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
(AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Condemned killer Ronnie Lee Gardner will be executed by a firing squad -- a development that would likely re-ignite protests over an antiquated, Old West-style of justice.
Related:
Utah set to execute killer by firing squad
A convicted killer who has sat on Utah's death row for 25 years will be put to death by a firing squad.Of the 35 states with the death penalty on the books, Utah is the only one to use the firing squad as a method of execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.
Two men have died in a hail of bullets since that decision: Gary Gilmore, on Jan. 17, 1977 -- after famously uttering the last words, "Let's do it" -- and John Albert Taylor on Jan. 26, 1996.
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.
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.
Of the 35 states with the death penalty on the books, Utah is the only one to use the firing squad as a method of execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.
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.
Utah executions since 1976
| Name | Date of execution | method |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Gilmore | January 17, 1977 | firing squad |
| Dale Selby Pierre | August 28, 1987 | lethal injection |
| Arthur Bishop | June 10, 1988 | lethal injection |
| William Andrews | July 30, 1992 | lethal injection |
| John Albert Taylor | January 27, 1996 | firing squad |
| Joseph Mitchell Parsons | October 15, 1999 | lethal injection |
"I was just hoping to end that focus," said Allen, adding that she's displeased with the prospect of another firing squad execution. "I fear that the proper attention will not be paid to the victims of the crime and the atrocity of the crime."
Still, lawmakers did not retroactively ban the firing squad out of fear that it would give condemned inmates a new avenue of appeal, she said.
Gardner is one of at least four of 10 men on Utah's death row who have said they wanted to die by firing squad.
Lydia Kalish, Amnesty International's death penalty abolition coordinator for Utah said her organization opposes the state's effort to see Gardner executed. But despite Utah's strong religious roots -- it's the home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- most here support the use of the death penalty.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
