The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/17/2010 04:00:40 PM MDT
Just hours before Ronnie Lee Gardner is scheduled to be put to death, Gov. Gary Herbert has turned down his request to temporarily halt the execution until the killer is awarded another commutation hearing.
Another last-ditch effort to save Gardner failed Thursday, when the 10th U.S. Circuit Court turned down an appeal from the killer. The condemned man's lawyer's immediately appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, where a second appeal is already pending.
The execution is set for 12:05 a.m. Friday.
"Upon careful review, there is nothing in the materials provided this morning that has not already been considered and decided by the Board of Pardons and Parole or numerous courts," Herbert wrote in a letter to Gardner's attorneys. "Mr. Gardner has had a full and fair opportunity to have his case considered by numerous tribunals."
The Utah Constitution does not grant the governor the authority to issue a pardon or to commute Gardner's sentence.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune, June 17, 2010
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