The Utah Supreme Court has denied a man's appeal of his death warrant two weeks before he is scheduled to be executed by firing squad.
The high court on Friday upheld a lower court's ruling that Ronnie Lee Gardner cannot challenge the signing of the warrant. The five-member court agreed with prosecutors that a sentence can be appealed but not an order to carry out that sentence.
"An order to execute the sentence is not itself a sentence. Therefore, we conclude that the issuance of a warrant is not an appealable order," the court wrote in a 2-page decision.
Gardner, 49, is set to die by firing squad at the Utah State Prison on June 18. His attorneys had challenged the warrant ordering the execution that was signed April 23 by 3rd District Court Judge Robin Reese.
Justices said Reese was right to determine there were no "legal reasons" - such as a pending appeal - that would prevent him from issuing the warrant. The court said the law limits the scope of those reasons and does "not include reasons why the underlying sentence is invalid."
Gardner's attorney, Andrew Parnes, argued that Reese should not have signed the warrant because the state courts had not heard mitigating evidence about Gardner's dysfunctional family life and childhood abuse during the penalty phase of his trail.
Parnes contends that evidence could have persuaded a jury to impose a life sentence, not death.
Utah's Supreme Court heard the appeal arguments on Thursday.
An e-mail seeking comment from Parnes was not immediately returned Friday.
Utah Assistant Attorney General Tom Brunker was pleased with the court's decision.
"This validates the trial court's recognition that the ministerial act of signing an execution warrant is not an opportunity for another round of review in a 25-year-old capital murder case," Brunker said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Gardner was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die in 1985 for the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell that same year.
Gardner has a separate appeal pending with the Utah Supreme Court that will be heard next week.
The Utah parole board also will hold a hearing on whether to commute Gardner's sentence.
Source: Associated Press, June 6, 2010
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