Ronnie Lee Gardner to die by firing squad.

In Utah, of course. Fucking mormons.

Ronnie Lee Gardner faces death by firing squad in Utah unless courts grant stay of execution



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...ant_stay_.html

Time's ticking for a convicted killer under the gun unless the courts grant him a stay of execution. Ronnie Lee Gardner will die by firing squad at a Utah prison Friday morning if his death sentence isn't scrapped. The 49-year-old murderer would be the first American killed by a firing squad in 14 years. Chances Gardner, self-described as a “nasty little bugger," will escape death are slim unless the 10th Circuit of Appeals or the Supreme Court intervene. In his defense, Gardner says a horrendous childhood turned him into a cold-blooded killer. "It would have been a miracle if I didn't end up here," Gardner has said. At age 2, Gardner was found wandering alone in his diaper. By 6, he was sniffing gasoline and glue, followed by LSD and heroin at 10. Stays at a mental hospital and in an abusive foster home came later. In 1985 when he was 23, Gardner shot and killed a bartender. Six months later, he killed an attorney during his attempt to escape a courthouse. His plea to stay alive stems from his desire to help other troubled youths. "There's no better example in this state of what not to do," Gardner told the parole board.

The article fails to mention that he was offered a choice of lethal injection and requested the firing squad.

So,.. he killed two people an is getting the firing squad? What is so special about the way the two were killed that merits that? I'm not saying he shouldn't die.. or rot in prison, either way is fine. Just wondering how he gets the honors.

In Utah, the firing squad consisted of five volunteer police officers from the county in which the conviction of the offender took place.[citation needed] A law passed on March 15, 2004, banned execution by firing squad in Utah, but since that specific law was not retroactive,[26] four inmates (one, Roberto Arguelles died of natural causes on death row, leaving only three) on Utah's death row could still have their last requests granted. Thereof, on April 21, 2010, Ronnie Lee Gardner requested a firing squad execution which has been scheduled for June 18, 2010. A Utah judge signed a death warrant Friday, April 23, 2010, affirming Utah's sentence for the execution of Gardner. Gardner's lawyer said he planned to file an appeal, which could change the execution date. Gardner was sentenced to die in 1985 for a botched escape attempt on April 2, 1985, during which he shot and killed Michael Burdell, a defense attorney, and injured court bailiff George "Nick" Kirk. Gardner, in court on charges stemming from the 1984 robbery and shooting death of Melvyn John Otterstrom, used a gun that had been smuggled into the old Salt Lake County Courthouse by his girlfriend. As of 2009, Oklahoma is the only other state in which execution by firing squad is legally available (as a backup method only; the state uses lethal injection as its primary method of execution).[26]. On April 1, 2009,[27] a bill to eliminate firing squad as a method of execution in Idaho was enacted, and took effect July 1, 2009.

Should explain it pretty well. TL;DR, he requested it himself. Death by firing squad is banned in Utah as of 2004, but the ban isn't retroactive, so he and a couple other dudes still get the choice.

He got grandfathered in being that the death penalty was given to him before the law was changed. And you're right, he did choose the firing squad, but was it to try and weasel out of the death penalty by sending it to Federal Court? Absolutely!

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/17...r-stay/?hpt=T2

Hours away from his scheduled execution by firing squad, Utah death-row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner has asked Gov. Gary Herbert for a temporary stay, according to the state Department of Corrections. The three-page letter was delivered to Herbert shortly before 10 a.m., the department said in a statement on its website. It was signed by Gardner's attorneys and asks the governor to "issue a respite or reprieve pursuant to your executive power under the Utah Constitution."

I still don't agree with this. I think the death penalty is contradictory, but that's another issue; however, if it were available on pay-per-view, I would probably order it over UFC at any time.

Would you order this on Pay-Per-View given the chance?

No point - it'll be free on one of the many video sites of the Internet (you know, the ones that don't seem to care what's posted) within a few days.

Would you order this on Pay-Per-View given the chance?

I believe it's constitutional, so sure. It'd give me a reason to start watching T.V. again.