Estimated read time: Less than a minute
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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 file photo) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah Supreme Court will hear arguments June 3 in the case of a condemned inmate set to die next month by firing squad.
Ronnie Lee Gardner is scheduled to be executed June 18.
His attorneys filed an appeal seeking to stop the execution and asking for a review of Gardner's 1985 death sentence.
Gardner was convicted in the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell.
The court on Thursday set the hearing date and issued a schedule for attorneys to submit written arguments.
Gardner's attorneys will argue that he was denied state funds to pay for experts and investigators who could have provided mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his trial. They believe the evidence could have influenced the jury's decision to impose the death penalty.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)