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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah parole board has scheduled a commutation hearing for a convicted killer set to be executed by firing squad next month.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has set the commutation hearing for Ronnie Lee Gardner for June 10 and 11, just days before his scheduled execution on June 18.
The 49-year-old Gardner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die in 1985 for the courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell that same year.
A parole board statement says it decided to hold the hearing after reviewing arguments from defense attorneys and the state of Utah.
The hearing is one of several upcoming for Gardner. The Utah Supreme Court will hear arguments June 3. and a state court judge has set a May 27 hearing in the case.
The Utah Attorney General's Office has asked the parole board to not overturn Gardner's sentence, saying he doesn't deserve mercy.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
